Students Seek Reformed Keg Policy

Students were invited to participate in an open forum on Tuesday, April 30 to address the question “What is the future of Social Life at Middlebury?”  Sponsored by the Community Council, SGA and the Dean of the College Office, over 40 students and faculty members attended the forum to continue the ongoing conversation regarding issues surrounding on-campus social life, such as what many perceive to be a problematic drinking culture and the desire among many students for a more vibrant party options on campus.

The Task Force on Alcohol and Social Life presented their recommendations (which are available online) to the administration for consideration last spring.  Since then, a Task Force implementation team has taken steps to enact many of the recommendations, according to Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbot. In addition to the recent hiring of a director of health and wellness, progress has been made in a number of other areas.

Although some items are still pending budget approval, students can expect to see the following changes: improved alcohol training programs for new students, opportunities to interact with Public Safety and custodial staff, accessible sound systems in public areas, more diverse and publicized programming and, ultimately, reforms to the party registration and hosting policies.

The forum was planned independently of the Task Force’s work, but served to create a similar dialogue.

“While the forum cannot directly create policy, I think it was an important reiteration of student voice on social concerns at Middlebury,” said Barrett Smith ’13, student co-chair of Community Council, which co-hosted the event.

At the event, Smith posed a series of questions to the audience to discuss, first in several small groups followed by an open conversation that lasted more than an hour-and-a-half as many students stayed to share their thoughts long after administrators had left.

Of the many issues raised, significant attention was devoted to the topic of kegs, with many students touting the keg as a viable option for safely and effectively hosting events with alcohol.

“Kegs have a negative connotation,” said Will Potter ’14.5, former social chair of Tavern. “But the reality is they can be some of the most efficient ways to run a well controlled party.”

Nathan LaBarba ’14, a member of last year’s Alcohol Task Force, agreed with Potter.

“The keg fosters a very interesting communal environment at parties, it slows down the rate of consumption of alcohol [and] it provides a space where the hosts of the event can make sure that they have control over who is consuming the beer that they are serving,” said LaBarba.

College policy prohibits the possession or consumption of any full-sized keg, except in the instance of a registered party or catered event. In order to register a party, hosts must participate in a Party Host Workshop, register any alcohol including kegs by 3 p.m. on the Thursday prior to the party, and provide and monitor a guest list for the event. Additionally, a social house hosting a party may only serve alcohol over a four-hour time limit; after the four hours, Public Safety monitors the closing of the keg and locks it in a closet.

Vermont law places no such restrictions on registering a keg in advance or using it within a specified time limit.

The College’s policy has been criticized for being excessively demanding. Associate Director of Public Safety Dan Gaiotti provided a number of reasons for its current existence including concerns about the large quantity, storage, damage and theft of kegs in addition to the “belief that it must be emptied within a short time frame or alcohol will go to waste.”

At the forum, Smith Abbot voiced the importance of “making sure that we are clear about why our keg policy is what it is. I think revisiting [the rationale for keg regulations] is worth it.”

LaBarba noted that the College’s four-hour limit for a keg to be legally registered may cause overconsumption, suggesting a reform allowing students to register a keg for an entire weekend.

“[The administration] will be carefully considering whether we might extend the hours that a keg is available,” said Smith Abbot, noting that this is one of many possibilities up for debate. “If we are going to shore up the policies that we have, we need to have a very strong rationale for it.”

Many in attendance at the forum described successful parties in which the student relationship with Public Safety was mutually beneficial.  However, the overall sentiment was that looser restrictions regarding party registration and kegs in particular could help encourage and facilitate the hosting of more lively and collective gatherings.

“We understand that students want greater autonomy,” said Smith Abbot. “But how we make that a balancing act is an open question.”

One possibility under consideration is the presence of a paid student party monitor program, modeled after similar programs successfully implemented at Haverford College and Dartmouth College.

A number of students mentioned the lack of incentives to host a party. Zach Hitchcock ’13.5, former president of KDR, described the logistical difficulties of planning and registering a party, citing the high cost of hosting that house members frequently incur.  Including alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as the required provision of food by college policy, Hitchcock estimated the cost of holding a large party to be $500, only a small percentage of which can be acquired from outside funding sources such as the Middlebury College Activities Boards or Commons funds.

“[Associate Dean of Students] Doug Adams has already convened a group of SGA senators and IHC representatives to discuss changes to party registration,” said Smith.  “We should see an overhaul of IHC guidelines next academic year and will hopefully see significant reform to party registration as well.”

Adrian Kerester ’15 said that the current alcohol policy on campus has served to displace social life to off-campus locations.

“One of the reasons I came to this school was because I liked the fact that the social scene was all on-campus,” said Kerester.  “I really hope that it can remain on campus and can flourish more on campus, because I think there are a lot of dangers associated with off campus parties, including drunk driving.”

“I’m most interested to see how the future of social houses will play out,” said Smith. “After a rough few years, KDR, the Mill and Tavern are primed to grow and thrive.”

Following students’ constructive criticism of campus social life and the College’s alcohol policy at the forum, specific steps to remedy the apparent lack of vibrant social life may be taken by the administration in the future, but the forum’s only clear consensus was that communication about potential solutions should continue among students, faculty and staff.