Students weigh in on proposed changes to social life: more on the new alcohol policy

Dean of Students Allison Gulati and Associate Dean of Students Jane Schubert are looking to move social life to campus by offering more late-night events to students and free alcohol to those of age.

This change to the school’s alcohol policy was proposed to the SGA general assembly on Oct. 13 by Gulati and Schubert. No official changes have been made yet, said Gulati, as the current policy will be reviewed by a Social Life Working group in November, which would ideally include volunteer faculty, staff, students and members of the community. The first event to serve alcohol to of-age students will take place this Saturday as part of Family Weekend. The next alcohol-friendly event will be a bonfire on the library lawn on Nov. 5, and there will likely be one or two more alcohol-friendly events before the end of the semester. The plan is not to just stop there, as Gulati also hopes to expand non-alcoholic events sponsored by the Muhlenberg Activities Council (MAC) and Campus Life.

“I think it is really important to not just equate ‘vibrant social life’ with ‘alcohol policy,’” said Gulati. “There are so many components to an exciting and healthy social life including exciting events and performers that are appealing to students broadly, social opportunities with and without alcohol on campus, well managed off-campus social opportunities in residences and at third party venues, and an alcohol policy that supports the responsible use of alcohol by students who are of age and helps reduce incidents of high risk alcohol abuse by students and student groups.”

Of the students interviewed, those of age or close to it expressed definite interest in attending events where alcohol was offered.

“I don’t tend to drink, but yeah, why not?” said an anonymous senior. “I think it’ll be an incentive for some people to do it [drink] on campus instead of hidden [away].”

Evan Perrotta ’19, expressed some concerns about bringing intoxicated students onto campus.

“[At events] there’s one person who’s too drunk in that audience and it effects everyone,” said Perrotta, “and that kind of thing will spread even more if you’re trying to bring more people onto the campus for social life.”

Aviva Symons ’18, thought the non-alcoholic events might be better at building community.

“Eventually it [holding more events on campus] would build a stronger weekend atmosphere that isn’t drinking in someone’s room,” said Symons.

Students seemed most interested in events that promote an open atmosphere where students can mingle and participate in activities together. Perrotta suggested to get more students on campus, the College could hold dances in the Seegers Event Space instead of hiring performers, as the former is what students do on the weekend anyway.

“[Dances are] not as much of a ‘let’s sit down and watch this person perform’ it’s more of a ‘let’s create a cool environment

for people to enjoy each other [and] have a good time, and what people would be doing but more mild, obviously, since we’re in a school,” said Perrotta. “That kind of thing is what people are doing with their weekends mostly.”

Other ideas include Muhlenberg nights at venues in Allentown and the newly opened Hamilton Crossings shopping center, and a special event for the seniors at BJ’s brewery. Suggestions for on-campus events included more movie nights, dances, performers, musical groups, and giveaways.

The students’ interests, however, were not the only motivation for moving more activities to campus. Both on-campus and off-campus incidents have noticeably increased this semester, according to statistics from Muhlenberg’s Department of Campus Safety. In the 2014-15 academic year, there were 66 incidents; in 2015-16, there were 64. So far this semester, there have been 25 incidents in just two months. With the semester about halfway through, this puts the College on track for approximately 50 incidents—more than any semester over the past two years. The incidents compiled in these reports include: intoxicated persons, underage drinking violations, noise complaints, vandalism, and assaults. The reason for this increase is not the result of a crack- down from the College, but rather, according to Gulati, is because of the lack of spaces for students to let loose.

“I want to be sure people are aware that there has been no change in the way enforcement and patrol of off campus occurs from the college,” said Gulati. “What is different is that there are fewer social outlets for students to go to (all connected to why we need to look at enhancing social life). With the closure of Stooges and Maingate (reopened for events now), and the loss of recognition of Sig Ep, in my estimation, that has led to approximately 200+ additional students on any given night looking for somewhere to go out off campus.”