Many changes for Coed, Fraternity and Sorority events might be on the horizon, including new attendance standards for certain parties and unregistered kegs in other circumstances. These proposals could be implemented next Fall term pending a decision by the Dean of the College, James Larimore.
The Social Event Management Procedures Review Committee presented a series of proposals concerning the organization and registration of social events last night to a crowd of approximately 50 members of the Dartmouth community.
Larimore formed the SEMP Review Committee in October 2004 and gave it the task of reviewing Section IX of the College's Alcohol Policy that deals with SEMP. The Committee consists of five administrators and six students, and is chaired by Director of the Collis Center and Associate Dean for Student Life Joe Cassidy.
The Committee reportedly held Thursday night's event to present proposed changes to the community and solicit feedback before finalizing their report for submission next week.
These suggested alterations arrive after six months of weekly Committee meetings and a number of forums through which students and staff were able to present feedback and recommendations of their own.
If Larimore implements the proposals recommended by the SEMP Review Committee, social events would be divided into three categories: "registered," "closed" and "members-only." This would replace the current system of "registered" and "unregistered," where events must be registered with Safety and Security when event capacity exceeds 40 guests.
"We looked at the events on a continuum of how students are able to manage things, from small, closed events which are of a lower risk to larger, open events which are of a higher risk," committee member Robert Freiman '05 said. "The open events will have the highest number of safety precautions in place."
Registered events would consist of events that have an attendance of greater than eighty people and/or are open to the campus community. The SEMP policies concerning hosts, servers, monitors, keg tags and wristbands that currently apply to registered events would remain in place.
Hard alcohol would be prohibited at registered events unless the organization petitions the Dean of Student Life and an exception is granted. Despite this restriction, organizations such as Alpha Theta, which commonly hosts events with hard liquor, should be able to continue hosting similar events provided they receive approval and demonstrate a track record of responsibility at such functions.
Closed events would be registered with Safety and Security and would be open to members of an organization and invited guests. A maximum of 80 people would be permitted at such events, and the events would be governed by a set of internal management procedures determined by the group in coordination with Safety and Security and other related departments.
Hard alcohol would not be permitted at closed events unless granted an exception by the Dean of Student Life. For such events, organizations would be able choose either beer from kegs, beer from cans or wine to be served. Differing from open events, kegs would not have to be registered if chosen as the source of alcohol for closed events. Although closed events would be registered with Safety and Security, no walkthroughs would take place. However, at least three trained student monitors from the organization would be required to work at the event.
In addition, each organization would be allowed one "on the fly" registration for closed events each term should a larger crowd of students be present at the organization on a particular night than anticipated. The organization would need to call the event in and request "on the fly" registration.
Following the event, the president or social chair of the organization would be required to meet with administration officials to determine if the notification "on the fly" was utilized properly. If yes, the organization would be granted an additional "on the fly" notification privilege for the term. If no, the organization would lose its "on the fly" privileges for a time.
Members-only events would be open only to the membership of a group, not including "leave-term" students. These events will be governed by internal management procedures similar to those for closed events.
No prior notification or registration would be necessary for members-only events. Kegs would be prohibited, unlike at closed events; however, hard liquor would be allowed.
No changes were recommended for gatherings where alcohol is present and less than 40 people are in attendance. Organizations would not need to notify Safety and Security nor register these functions.
According to Ryan Travia, coordinator for Alcohol and Other Drug Education Programs, comparative studies show that registration of social events is common at other colleges and universities in the United States.
"The vast majority of other schools required registration whenever alcohol was present," Travia said. Tufts University is currently the school that allows for the most guests before requiring registration at events where alcohol is served, but these suggestions would make Dartmouth surpass Tufts.
In addition to the new categories for social events, the Committee recommended several other changes. One is that the length of time alcohol may be served shall not exceed five hours at any event; however, the length of the event itself may exceed five hours.
Also, student groups would be unable to host two registered or closed events within a 12-hour period.
Although these suggestions are still subject to the approval of Larimore, a number of leaders from Greek organizations expressed some satisfaction with the proposed changes.
"While students will never be thrilled with College restrictions on their social lives, I think the new recommendations make a good balance between the College and organizations," Chi Gamma Epsilon President Brandon Piper '06 said.
