Office of Alcohol and Other Drugs spreads the word about new alcohol policy

The Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives is hard at work getting the word out about the University’s recently approved alcohol pilot program.

Since the alcohol pilot went into effect on Oct. 19, seven student groups have registered parties under the new policy. OAD has subsidized security for each of these events.

In total, there have been 24 student events with alcohol registered on campus this semester. Last year, 45 parties were registered on campus between the two semesters.

“It’s not easy to make a comparison between this year and last year because the pilot program has only been in place for three weeks,” OAD Director Julie Lyzinski Nettleton said. “Most of the semester has been non-pilot time. Our goal is to increase the number of events and it looks like we’re doing that so far.”

Among other things, the alcohol pilot program permits some student groups to serve mixed drinks at certain on-campus events. This has not been allowed since the University Alcohol and Drug Policy was implemented in 1999.

Although a general goal of OAD is to increase the volume of registered parties on campus, Nettleton said her office does not have a specific number of events it hopes to see hosted. Instead, she believes it is more important to increase access to spaces on campus where students can host events with alcohol.

OAD is currently in talks with building administrators to find available spaces for students to host registered parties with alcohol on campus. So far, Houston Hall and the LGBT Center are the only two facilities that students are able to rent out for events with alcohol under the new pilot program.

“We already know that registered events are safer, so we want to increase the use of on-campus space instead of students hosting unsafe events in their private homes off-campus,” Nettleton said. “It’s important to us that we identify locations for all students to participate equally in social life on campus.”

College senior and Panhellenic Council Vice President of Risk Management Laskshmi Sivaguru, who is a member of the University’s Alcohol Policy Review Committee, believes that the pilot program is already making good progress.

“A lot of our job now is reaching out to groups, like the [Undergraduate Assembly] Steering Committee, and talking to people within our own organizations, since we were all chosen because of our connections,” she said. “Everyone is very happy with the way things are going, especially now that there are spaces available on campus for students to rent for registered events.”

Currently, AOD and other students who were involved with the alcohol policy review are working to spread awareness of the pilot across campus. Among other things, they have met with student group advisers to explain the pilot program and encouraged them to talk with their groups about utilizing it.

Nettleton has also sat down with members of groups like the Multicultural Greek Council to talk about the pilot program and answer questions. The MGC is hosting a Hurricane Sandy relief party Thursday at downtown nightclub Blurr, which will be registered with the pilot policy.

College senior and MGC President Jacqueline Baron said that she was surprised at how easy registering the party was.

“This is the first MGC event I’ve had to register, so I guess I technically can’t compare it to anything else,” she said. “I’m looking forward to seeing how it all pans out. The AOD staff is very friendly and was quite helpful when I spoke with them.”

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