It’s our party…or is it?
By hoping to formulate a new alcohol funding policy, the Congress of the South Forty is undertaking a daunting task: trying to maintain a safe and responsible drinking atmosphere without infringing on the rights or security of its residents.
Thanks to lenient university policy and CS-40 money, RA’s can currently purchase alcohol for their floor programs. Though RA’s are not supposed to allow underage residents to drink at these functions, such rules are rarely enforced. But the liability remains.
A new system might include eliminating funding for alcohol altogether. RA’s could establish BYOB parties or arrange for third-party vendors to supply alcohol, transferring liability away from the school.
But in forming a new policy, CS-40 should not have any illusions. Restricting alcohol purchases can transfer liability, but will not reduce underage drinking. Legal or not, students of all ages drink, and no policy will change that. Prohibiting underage drinking all together on the South 40 would simply move parties off campus, and far mroe students would drink and drive.
This is not to say that the South 40 is free of drinking abuses. Each weekend, EST responds to many alcohol-related injuries in residence halls. But prohibiting underage drinking would not discourage these students from drinking; it would discourage students from getting help when they need it.
Finally, the WU alcohol policy claims that, “as adults, students are expected…to be responsible for their own behavior.” CS-40 has admirably welcomed this responsibility by working to form a new alcohol policy for the South 40. The Congress must now ensure the new policy include input from all residents and promote safe drinking on the South 40.
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