Following up on the Report of the Task Force on Alcohol, Dean of the College Lee Pelton will reconstitute the College Committee on Alcohol and Other Drugs and temporarily appoint a professional evaluator, charging both with examining the role that alcohol plays in campus social life.
Pelton commissioned the task force last spring to suggest ways to reduce the influence of alcohol on campus.
The group, composed of administrators and students, presented a report in June with 33 recommendations.
Pelton spend the Summer term deciding what to do with the task force's report. In an October 18 letter to task force co-chairs Dr. Jack Turco and Emily Jones '95, Pelton stated he was very pleased with the report and wrote that he planned to follow up on two of the committee's recommendations.
A recharged CCAOD
"I will charge the CCAOD to take an active role in making campus alcohol and drug related issues more public," Pelton wrote. The CCAOD will annually present data regarding alcohol use to the President and the Trustees, Pelton wrote.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Pelton said the CCAOD has not been active recently. He also conceded that it has not been effective.
"We have to be more vigilant in giving it things to do," he said, adding that he will give the group a new charge. The CCAOD was previously charged with making recommendations to the Dean of the College on subjects dealing with drug and alcohol use on campus.
The CCAOD will now have three charges, according to Pelton's letter. It will oversee the implementation of the task force recommendations and it will "continue to serve as a permanent body to review and monitor alcohol and drug related issues and make recommendations to the Dean of the College."
The CCAOD will also be "charged with reviewing the underlying assumptions of our current alcohol and other drug education programs and policies," Pelton wrote.
Pelton addressed the letter to Turco, who is the director of the College Health Service, and to Jones. He released a copy to The Dartmouth late Friday.
Pelton wrote he will also charge the CCAOD to assess the "high-risk" alcohol aspects of student life.
"By 'high risk,' I refer to those areas in the College where alcohol is most readily available and thus, where the possibility for abuse and underage drinking are most likely," Pelton wrote. "It is clear the College needs to consider reforms in these areas, particularly in those social organizations where alcohol is served."
Pelton called coed, fraternity and sorority social events "high-risk" areas where alcohol is present.
Pelton also commented on the task force's report that the student alcohol monitoring system has failed. In the current system, paid students monitor other students' parties to make sure the College's alcohol policy is upheld.
"By their own admission, student monitors view their primary role as overseeing the safety of students rather than monitoring underage drinking and violations of the College regulations," Pelton wrote.
"While these safety objectives are necessary and worthwhile, the monitoring system was originally established by students and College officials to permit students to enforce College regulations regarding the service of alcohol," he wrote. "These procedures need to be reviewed with an eye toward reforming substantially the practices which govern the service of alcohol in high risk areas."
Pelton also wrote that there is no easy answer to the problem of alcohol on Dartmouth or any other college campus.
"Unfortunately, like much of American or collegiate culture elsewhere, Dartmouth student culture is one in which alcohol has a priority and value," Pelton wrote. "Dartmouth is dominated by a social structure that supports high-risk rather than low-risk drinking."
Pelton said he will name the new members, including a new chair, to the CCAOD "within the next week," which would allow the committee to immediately begin working.
The chair of the CCAOD will be selected from the Dartmouth community on a rotating basis to serve a three-year term, Pelton wrote.
The newly redesigned committee will be made up of nine administrators chosen from the offices of the Dean of the College, the Athletic Department, the Tucker Foundation, Health Services, Residential Life, College Counsel, Risk Management and Safety and Security, according to the letter.
The panel will additionally include five students -- two members of the Coed, Fraternity and Sorority system, two from Residential Life and one member of a Peer Education Program, Pelton wrote.
Professional Evaluator
The task force also recommended that "the College should undergo a systematic and comprehensive evaluation of alcohol and other drug-related issues, including a needs assessment and an evaluation of current programs, policies and procedures," according to Pelton's letter.
In order to comply with this recommendation, Pelton said he would appoint an evaluator.
"The Dean of the College will appoint, on a part time and temporary basis, a professional evaluator who has the experience and expertise to conduct a review of the College's alcohol and drug related problems," he wrote.
In an interview, Pelton said he is hoping to hire someone with a background in analysis and research, and who "knows something about alcohol."
He also said the new evaluator will "probably be someone from the College community." He said the appointment should be made within the week.
