Last Thursday, Georgetown’s Department of Public Safety released its report on campus crime in 2008. Some of the numbers, including a 47 percent rise in main campus thefts, are distressing. One ugly number, though, isn’t about attacks on Georgetown by outsiders—it’s the significant rise of alcohol violations in 2008.
A total of 1,335 alcohol violations were issued last year, dwarfing the 512 alcohol violations in 2007 and almost doubling Georgetown’s six-year average of 713 annual alcohol violations. Since it’s unlikely that students suddenly began drinking more often or more brazenly, the cause behind the rise in violations is unclear; the institution of new alcohol rules in 2007 could be a contributing factor. DPS would not respond to requests for comment about the increase in alcohol violations.
Whatever the cause, the penalties for alcohol violations are stricter under the current alcohol policy than they were in previous years. For example, the University may now contact the parents of students with two violations, and students with three violations risk suspension. These changes mean the rise in violations is even more serious than it appears on the surface.
Georgetown administrators have admirably compromised on some student concerns about the newest alcohol policy, allowing some of-age students to own beer pong tables and increasing the keg limits for certain apartments. Fortunately for students, some requirements that initially seemed onerous, like party training, have turned out to be painless.
Still, work needs to be done. If the alcohol policy continues to have so marked an impact on students, more students will move parties off-campus, further inflaming relations between Georgetown and its neighbors. Students who want a fair policy, that neither targets nor excessively punishes them, should demand the University amend rules regarding alcohol violations so that they are less damaging and intrusive.
