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The Dartmouth
July 26, 2025 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Police, students carry on alcohol discussion

Correction Appended

After a tumultuous eight months during which Greek organizations were investigated for serving alcohol to minors, while students organized to oppose Hanover Police policies the Inter-fraternity Council, the Greek Letter Organization and Societies Office, and Hanover Police have continued meeting regularly to address concerns about alcohol consumption on the Dartmouth campus, according to IFC president Tyler Brace '11.

Although Brace said he appreciates the level of dialogue among students, the College and police, he hopes to see more transparency and clarity from the Hanover Police.

Since Hanover Police announced plans to launch "sting operations" and compliance checks in February to crack down on Greek organizations serving alcohol to minors a policy that faced significant opposition from the student body the Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee has been working to assess Dartmouth's drinking culture. Hanover Police announced in March that they had decided to postpone the implementation of compliance checks indefinitely.

Brace said that at this point he does not think the implementation of the sting operations is imminent.

"We have a good dialogue going right now, so I would certainly hope at least that that's not in the near future," he said.

After its assessment, SPAHRC recommended several changes to the College's alcohol policy, including a more intensive alcohol education program for incoming freshmen and a more liberal keg policy that would reduce the number of beer cans at Greek organization parties. While the alcohol education program for freshmen was implemented this Fall, the IFC voted down the recommended changes to the College's keg policy, according to Brace.

The recommendations included increasing the number of kegs permitted at parties, while eliminating cans as a way of serving beer because they can be used to serve more quickly.

Brace said that Hanover Police's policies prioritize enforcement over student safety in contrast with the College's policies. He said, however, that he understands that it is the job of the police to enforce the law.

Although he said he does not agree with all of the Hanover Police's policies, Brace said that the announcement of the "sting operations" has increased the level of dialogue about alcohol issues.

"One thing it's done really well is that it's got us all talking," he said. "We're all sitting together in a room going over a lot of these issues trying to come up with a good plan to satisfy as many people as possible."

Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone agreed that since the discussion of "sting operations" began, there has been an increase in the level of dialogue between Greek organizations and the Hanover Police, though he said it is too early to tell whether the dialogue has been productive.

Since the announcement of the sting operations, six Greek organizations were issued warnings for allegedly previously serving alcohol to minors. In May, the Tabard coed fraternity was charged again with serving alcohol to minors and pled no contest at a Lebanon district court in July, The Dartmouth previously reported. Tabard received a $4,000 fine, and its members must perform 500 hours of community service over the next two years.

Fraternities and sororities can be charged as organizations and fined up to $100,000 for each case of serving alcohol to minors.

"One of the biggest challenges that fraternities face with the police is that there is so little clarity," Brace said.

According to Giaccone, cases against Greek organizations typically develop after a minor who has been over-served has been questioned by the police about where they were served alcohol.

"Some people are intoxicated beyond blackout, but some are intoxicated and still remember when and where they were served," Giaccone said. "Individuals would have to be concerned if they were actually providing the alcoholic beverages in some more direct manner where they could be charged individually."

In the past, Dartmouth Greek organizations have typically arranged plea bargain agreements with the prosecutor after being charged and have not gone to trial, Giaccone said.

While a Greek organization can face criminal charges for serving minors, Giaccone said he thinks fraternities and sororities should be more concerned with the lawsuits they could face if someone is injured or killed after being served alcohol from their organizations.

"The lawsuits can be 10 times higher than what the state would do on a criminal charge," said Giaccone, adding that a Dartmouth Greek organization has not faced such a lawsuit in recent years.

Brace also said that many Dartmouth students are unclear about the Diversion program and how the program affects a student's record if he or she has completed the program.

That information is currently not available online, although the town is in the process of updating its website so that it will include more information about Hanover police policies and programs such as Diversions, Giaccone said. Information about the Diversions program can be found on pamphlets at the Hanover Police station.

Giaccone said that individuals can also call Hanover Police and ask for clarification about these types of programs and policies.

"When asked what the policies were, we've never said we couldn't say what the policies were or said we couldn't comment," Giaccone said. "It's a matter of asking."

Brace said that he hopes that in the future the Hanover police will make their policies more clear to the Greek organizations and Dartmouth students in general.

"Transparency that's what we're looking for from them," Brace said. "That's where we'd like to see some improvement on their part."

**The original version of this article stated that a Dartmouth Greek organization has faced a lawsuit concerning alcohol violations, when in fact, no Dartmouth Greek organization has.*