In an interview Thursday, Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson offered no concrete reasons for the University�s changes in its party policies.
�I want to stay away from specific occurrences that motivated these changes. It was more the general pattern that we have been observing over the last few years,� Olson said.
The new regulations require weekend parties to be registered by 10 a.m. Thursday morning, and limit the number of party-goers per residence�25 people in Henle and Village B, and 35 people in Nevils, Village A, and University townhouses. Each party must be sponsored by two 21-year-olds living in the residence, and hosts must take party training classes from the University.
Though a threatened keg ban was thwarted last fall�in large part due to the efforts of former Student Association president Twister Murchison (SFS �08)�Olson left open the option of changing party regulations in an email he sent to the student body last January.
�A lot of people are going to look at these new regulations with much skepticism. It�s not the direction I had hoped things would go,� Murchison said. �It sounds like the decision was made in an isolated setting.�
According to current Student Association president Ben Shaw (COL �08), Olson and other administrators convened a meeting with about 10 �student leaders� in March, during which they asked the students broad questions such as, �do you think parties are too big?�
Shaw said he found out about the new policies the same day as the rest of the student body, when Olson sent out another e-mail at the end of the school year.
�I want to make clear that this came from our office,� Olson said. �There was a strong input from GUSA … Those arguments were convincing … but it was our office that made the decision.�
Shaw has met with Olson twice to specifically discuss the new regulations.
�I feel like the earlier registration deadline is going to result in a greater number of parties going unregistered, and less information being made available to Residential Life and DPS,� Shaw said.
Jon Gryskiewicz (COL �08), who is living in a Village A apartment, said that students would resist the policies.
�Students drink in college; that�s what students do. The new rules are going to force students to drink off-campus,� Gryskiewicz said. �We�re not going to stop until we�re busted.�
Shaw indicated that there would be an ongoing evaluation of the University�s policies, and that both he and Olson are open to students� reactions. Shaw, for one, is ready for their outrage.
�Nothing gets students in an uproar like saying we�re going to take your alcohol away,� Shaw said.
The Department of Public Safety could not be reached for comment before press time.
Additional reporting by Eric Mittereder and Sam Sweeney
