Disciplinary Review Committee Considers ban
At last night’s Town Hall meeting on the University’s proposed changes to the alcohol policy, students resoundingly spoke out against a possible keg ban.
“It’ll definitely have an impact on the final decision,” Student Association President Twister Murchison (SFS ‘08) said of the meeting. “This is not superficial or cosmetic in any way.”
During the event, broadcast live on GUTV, students cited many reasons for opposing the ban, including more off-campus partying, a diminished on-campus community and the detrimental effects of an “inevitable” increase in hard alcohol.
“You would probably be promoting drinking in residence halls,” Lindsay Purdy (SFS ‘08) said. “You’re probably looking at higher levels of irresponsibility as far as drinking is concerned.”
Alex Kolodin (SFS ‘09) said he was concerned about the dangers students face in going off campus to drink.
“There’s a lot of real danger in forcing students to go outside the Georgetown sphere,” Kolodin said.
Contrary to the Disciplinary Review Committee’s assertion, many students said they thought the keg ban would exacerbate, rather than diminish, alcohol abuse on campus.
“The most likely scenario is that whatever changes he [Olson] decides on, he would make the decision sometime this semester,” Dean Dennis Williams of the Center for Minority Educational Affairs said. “It would logically go into effect at the beginning of the spring semester. That’s not hard and fast but it’s the most likely scenario”
Students stressed that eliminating kegs would drive students to drink more hard alcohol, the cheapest alternative.
“What you pay for a keg, you could probably get two or three handles of Everclear,” Stoller said. “That’s especially dangerous for females, for freshmen.”
Williams and Professor Frederick Ruf listened to students’ opinions on behalf the Disciplinary Review Committee at the meeting.
“I’m persuaded that it’s a likely result that a keg ban would increase hard alcohol,” Williams said. “I’m not entirely convinced that it should or that it’s inevitable, but I think it would happen.”
Ruf found the input from the students educational in terms of the logistics of drinking at Georgetown. “Another thing that I learned tonight is the style of socializing that happens around a keg,” Ruf said. “And I learned about, what’s it called? Pre-drinking?”
Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson, who has final authority on the decision, was not present at the meeting because of a previous conflict.
“The decision on the proposed changes, that is the party registration policy, parental notification policy, and keg ban policy, is the sole property of Dr. Olson,” Murchison said.
