As confusing as a Friday morning class after a late-night rendezvous with a pitcher of Beast, Trinity's alcohol policies are guaranteed to raise questions and promote controversy. This topic has received a great deal of attention during the past year as a result of an administrative mandate banning kegs from all campus residence halls. The onset of the 1995-1996 academic year brings the issue to the forefront of debate yet again. Trinity's administration has vowed to stringently enforce the alcohol policy at campus parties, while the inception of a revamped first year program brings new unwritten alcohol regulations to freshman residence halls. While no one seems too sure as to what the rules are, who they apply to, or whether or not they will be enforced, one thing is certain: representatives of the College community who support the changes and those who despise the intervention are embroiled in a battle to make Trinity a great place to spend four years.

While Trinity's official alcohol policies are listed in the 1995-1996 Student Handbook, Associate Dean of Students Kirk Peters points out that the college is under the general policy of enforcing state alcohol laws. Theoretically, residents in freshman halls, including Resident Assistants (R.A.'s) are all under age 21, therefore, unwritten policy which effectively bans alcohol from these dorms is being enforced by Resident Assistants on each floor or hall of the freshman residences. Elton 4th floor R.A. Kirby Horan is a proponent of the changes in alcohol policy evident in the first year program as a result of the excessive dorm damage experienced in last year's unregulated freshman residences. "Taking the alcohol out of [freshman] residence halls," Horan states, "has made them conducive to living." Although Carolyn Stone '99 was not on campus last year to experience freshman life in the residence halls, she echoes similar remarks, noticing that dorm life this year is very quiet.

Removing the alcohol has meant enforcing the rules. This year, if freshman R.A.'s catch a resident blatantly possessing alcoholic beverages in the dorms, they must dump out the alcohol in front of the student and inform them that a report on the incident will be filed with the Office of Residential Life. Edward O'Callaghan, sophomore R.A. of the bottom floor of Jones more commonly known as the Pitts reported, however, that R.A.'s will not look to hassle residents over the policies. Only if "overwhelming suspicion" is present will R.A.'s investigate residents. Otherwise, what goes on in a resident's room is his or her own business.

When asked to present their feelings on the alcohol policy in first year dorms, several anonymous freshman voiced similar cries of, "It sucks!" The response was highly gendered, however, with freshman males lashing out against the policy and females not minding a great deal.

The policies have pushed many freshmen to look for other alternatives to drinking in the dorms. The View's popularity has skyrocketed this year, and a new phenomenon of mass outdoor drinking has developed. Resident Assistants are spared from writing up their peers in these instances, though. Horan notes that Connecticut has no statutes pertaining to open containers, therefore, R.A.'s have no legal jurisdiction to regulate alcohol consumption outside residence halls.

O'Callaghan adds that, "ORL [the Office of Residential Life] and Campus Safety officials stated that it is the responsibility of Campus Safety to monitor the behavior and action of students outside of the residence halls."

Freshmen are not the only students effected by enforcement of alcohol policies, however. Upperclassmen have taken note of the administration's actions as well.

Dean Peters justifies the need to enforce alcohol policies on campus. "It's not a moral reason. The main issue is that on this campus, we've abused the policies of drinking." It is for this reason that the administration has ensured that non-alcoholic alternatives are available for students during weekends. Unlike past years, countless trips to various Connecticut and Massachusetts locations, movies, and events are now regularly open to students who prefer not taking advantage of the party scene. Peters makes clear, however, that, "There are no plans for this to be a dry campus," despite popular claims.

Some upperclassmen longing for a return to the days of unlimited parties, kegs, and latenights have recently hit campus with a sign campaign. Some signs read, "Gerety=beer, Dobelle=no beer," while others urged Trinity students to drink as much as you can, as fast as you can, while there is still time. Many of the signs indicate the popular student belief that the changes in alcohol policy reflect changes in Trinity's President. Peters asserts, "This isn't the first year for change," pointing to the fact that kegs were banned last year under the administration of then Trinity President Borden Painter. Furthermore, he reveals that the alcohol policy has always been slightly altered over the past nine years of his tenure at the College.

The new rules are not simply a product of President Dobelle. "He hasn't authorized this," Peters explains, "but he's certainly put his stamp of approval on it."

Recent Trinity graduate Eric Jewett '95 recalls the Trinity social scene when he first arrived on campus in August, 1991. "Every weekend there would be at least two to four fraternity parties. All signs for parties said '21 and under, ID required," he recalls. "Even when my hand was marked as under 21, no one was ever refused alcohol." When the Trinity Greek system began to change in the 1993-1994 academic year, Jewett felt that the then new, restrictive alcohol policies were counterproductive.

"When a fraternity had a party, it had a total monopoly for the night or weekend," he asserts. "This gave the Greeks even more power while the school was trying to eliminate it, because it took away the competition to attract people to the best parties."

Again, Peters defends the new restrictions claiming that residents are given the privilege of consuming alcohol in upperclass housing. He adds that the administration has no rules limiting the amount of parties held, contrary to what many students believe. Fewer frat parties were held during the first few weeks of school this year, he explains, as a result of the city's crackdown on party registration with the Hartford Police who now enforce a citation which forces frats to register parties ten days prior to the event. Liquor licenses must also be secured through the city. In past years, these regulations were often overlooked, making large, frequent parties the norm during a Trinity weekend.

Reacting to changes he witnessed in alcohol policy and echoing many current student frustrations, Jewett explains his disappointment, "The change in feeling from freshman year to senior year was a feeling of freedoms and rights being restricted and taken away. Students could do anything (within reason) that they wanted to. I found it strange that I had more personal freedoms on campus as a freshman than a senior. There was the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them."

Jewett also raises the issue of drugs at Trinity which he feels were definitely a problem during his years at the College. "Over all four years there was never an enforced drug policy. Last year, you could smoke crack in the halls," Jewett remembers, "but a quarter keg would get you thrown out of campus housing."

These comments bring to light an entirely new issue of whether drug policy is suffering at the hands of alcohol policy. Dean Peters acknowledged drug use as a growing concern and believed it was "something to be examined within the next few weeks."

As a result of the more recent restrictions on alcohol, it has been widely suggested that the new policies will force students off campus and into their cars, risking the possibility of drunk driving injuries or deaths. Peters does not believe this argument carries much weight because the predictions have simply not become a reality. He adds that drinking and driving are the students' responsibilities and not the administration's. As long as the administration provides adequate non-alcoholic alternatives, Peters said, he is doing his job.

© Trincoll Journal, 1995.