Two months after the University’s announcement of a new alcohol policy was met by uproar among students, the working group formed to address their concerns will meet for the first time today.
Dr. Todd Olson declared the creation of the working group in early October following the negative student reaction to the new alcohol policy.
The group is composed of eight faculty and staff members and eight students. Dr. James Welsh, Assistant Vice President for student Health Services, and Matt Stoller (COL ’08) have been named co-chairs of the committee, which seeks to represent students from all walks of life.
“I intend for an even-handed conversation,” Welsh said, “where all sides are represented.”
The faculty members are Patrick Kilcarr, Joan Riley, Judy Johnson, Patrick Killelee, Morris Britt, Bill Cessato and Missy Foy.
Matt Stoller, a Student Association senator, is the only member of Work Hard, Play Hard: GU Students for Stopping the Madness—the student group that led the charge in opposition to the policy—in the working group.
“Work Hard, Play Hard is not functioning as an organization at this point,” president of Work Hard, Play Hard, Pat DePoy (COL ’09) said, alleging that Olson refuses to meet with Work Hard, Play Hard except through Stoller. “Todd Olson has taken the issue out of our hands. The administration continues to be unresponsive.”
GUSA nominated four of the students on the working group, including Stoller. The other three students were chosen based on the varied perspectives that they would bring to the working group, Stoller said.
The two freshmen, Adam Alfi (MSB ’11), a non-drinking brother in Alpha Epsilon Pi, the Jewish fraternity, and GUSA Senator Joseph Hill (COL ’11), were selected in part because of their involvement with the Jewish Students Association and the NAACP, respectively.
Patrick Dowd (SFS ’09), the third GUSA nominee, transferred from Notre Dame this year.
“So he brings a perspective on the alcohol policies on other campuses and how they affected socialization in positive or negative ways there,” Stoller said.
The other four students in the group represent Interhall, Georgetown Emergency Response Medical Service, Resident Advisors and Residents of Color Council, respectively.
Obehi Utubor (SFS ’09), a member of the Residents of Color Council, is a non-drinker and expects to bring that perspective to the issue.
“I don’t drink and when I heard about the new policy, I wasn’t upset or excited. I was ambivalent because I felt at times alcohol consumption got out of hand,” Utubor said, “[I am] also part of the black community… the black community doesn’t drink as much as the white community,.”
“GERMS has always had a role in alcohol policy,” Nathan Srinivas (SFS ’09), a member of both GERMS and the working group, said, “We deal with the most extreme cases of alcohol abuse. We’ll provide a perspective on alcohol that most students probably don’t have.”
The University offered the creation of the working group as a concession to the students, along with the promise to continue evaluating the policy and keep communication open between students and the administration.
“I am proud of people up to this point,” DePoy said. “University responses have been frustrating. The administration made one change that seemed to calm people.”
Even though DePoy is skeptical, there are students in the working group who see the need for change.
“I think that some of the best and brightest college applicants in the country really care about the freedom to make their own choices about alcohol in college and I fear that too strict of an alcohol policy might bite us when we try to attract those applicants,” Alfi said.
—Additional reporting by Vivian Chen and Molly Redden
