Town hall tackles alcohol issue

Author: Jason F. Siegel

In a sparsely attended meeting in John McCardell Jr. Bicentennial Hall, President of Middlebury College Ronald D. Liebowitz hosted a town hall meeting to discuss alcohol and social life on and off campus and its relation to federal laws, the first of two scheduled for J-Term.

The meeting was fairly informal, with Liebowitz dressed in a relaxed manner, wearing a button-down shirt and denims, and declining to use the provided microphone. In a fairly unusual procedure, for most of the meeting Liebowitz asked for candid opinions of the students, the vast majority of whom were under 21 but quite willing to comment frankly on their drinking habits, instead of community members asking questions of the president.

"One of the reasons for this meeting is for me and my administrative colleagues to address the perception of social life on campus," said Liebowitz at the beginning of the meeting. "The other reason is to address related safety issues."

One of the first points made was that the new guest list policy has profoundly altered the atmosphere of the social houses, a cornerstone of residential life on campus, for instead of being open to all, the houses must restrict admission to the parties. Ioana Literat '09 followed that point, stating that there are many people admitted to parties not on the guest list based on their gender, especially women, and even within that group, based on how they are dressed.

Several students made the point that students on guest lists tend to plan to go to the same parties every week, which creates cliques and restricts social life on campus, and also encourages people to do all their drinking at the social house parties. "It doesn't change how people drink. It changes how people get around [the law]," said Eli Menaker '08. Indeed, a common theme of the meeting was that when 18-year-olds are not allowed to drink in the open, they will often drink in private, where there is no surveillance or control.

Others affirmed that social houses were a key part of College social life because they are basically the only organized options consistently available on the weekend that include alcohol.

Liebowitz explained that the interpretation of the liquor laws is not new, but that in the past the College and the town had not followed the interpretation as closely as it does with the new liquor inspector. Director of Business Services Tom Corbin said that the liquor laws were not intended to stem off underage drinking; rather, their intention is to prevent private homes from becoming places of public drinking. Guest lists then come from the need to define a group to keep a private party indisputably private. "We happen to be in a state that more strictly enforces the liquor laws," said Liebowitz.

In response to a student's interest in shuttles to and from off-campus parties, Liebowitz and Dean of the College Tim Spears stated that there were major legal obstacles, especially the abetting clause of the laws, which state that it is illegal to help minors acquire alcohol.

The conversation then turned to what drives the need to drink. "Being in rural Vermont, there is a drinking culture at this school," said Jessica Singleton '08.5. Students in attendance were generally in agreement that there is a large need to get away from the institution, and not necessarily physically. A popular suggestion was a space somewhere on campus or very near campus that was operated exclusively by students.

"Last year I had about 15 student lunches where I just sat myself down to talk with students, and [having student-run, non-institutional spaces] was the model suggestion to improve social life on campus and reduce the sense of needing to go off campus for social life," said Liebowitz. When he asked if there was a way to create such a space on campus, he was met with suggestions for a student pub, which might also attract off-campus seniors back onto campus.

Jeanine Buzali '09 mentioned that the licensing of more dining spaces would be an excellent way to accomplish this goal, to which Corbin responded that there are a number of new spaces in the process of getting licensed.

Menaker then asked for the administration's view of underage drinking, "It's our biggest concern. The students' safety is any administrator's principal concern," said Liebowitz. "The number of students taken to the Health Center and Porter Hospital this weekend was disturbing, way above the normal level." Spears echoed this sentiment, carefully pointing out that the dialogue would be difficult because of the sensitive legal difficulties.

Director of Public Safety Lisa Boudah mentioned that Public Safety has had a tough time dealing with the law and student drinking habits, and noted that some of them, such as drinking too much on an empty stomach, have become increasingly frequent since the change in the drinking age from 18 to 21.

The increased presence of the police department on campus also came up. Liebowitz and Spears both noted that though the College is private property, there are public roads, including College Street and Hepburn Road behind Mead Chapel, that traverse it over which the police do have jurisdiction.

After the meeting, the various members of the administration said that though they were disappointed with the turnout, they were quite pleased with the candor and frank tone of the meeting.

They also stated, however, that many things went unsaid this meeting. Spears pointed out that students feel the need not just to drink, but to drink to excess. Speculating on one probable cause, Spears said, "I think people do drink heavily to hook up. But how do we talk about that?"

Vice President for Communications Michael McKenna said, "It's about letting off steam. What's changed now is the throwing up," and the like, which according to him was considered mortifying even among rugby-playing frat brothers in his college days.

The other topic not brought up was the fact that while many would say that students who choose not to drink are not stigmatized, there is little peer pressure to stop drinking before it becomes excessive. Boudah did state during the meeting, however, that because so many students drink excessively together, it is difficult to keep tabs on one another.

Liebowitz also mentioned that a large factor in excessive drinking is that many students come to campus already somewhat acclimated to furtive drinking, behavior that they continue here.

The Jan. 19 follow-up meeting will have a fairly different structure. There will be a panel featuring Boudah, Middlebury Chief of Police Tom Hanley, Vermont State Liquor Inspector Mike Davidson and several students.