Alcohol ban little concern to applicants

Tour guides for the admissions office said they have received few inquiries about the temporary policy. Prospective Penn students so far don't seem to be interested in the University's new alcohol policy, according to guides for admissions tour groups. Members of the Kite and Key Society who act as tour guides for the Office of Undergraduate Admissions said that they have encountered few, if any, questions from students or parents about the new policy which temporarily bans alcohol from all undergraduate registered parties. Though the administration's actions have made the local news, the story has yet to receive the kind of attention that Dartmouth College incurred when it announced plans to eliminate single-sex fraternities, or that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology got after a freshman fraternity pledge died of alcohol poisoning in 1997. Wharton junior Aaron Glick, one of Kite and Key's tour guides, said that a member of the admissions office staff asked him to discuss the alcohol policy "objectively" if questions were asked on his tour yesterday. High school students and parents on the tour didn't seem to be aware of the controversy until Glick distributed copies of The Daily Pennsylvanian to the group, he said, when several tour members asked about the meaning of Tuesday's rally on College Green. Glick said he received just one specific question -- after his tour had ended -- about whether Penn would retain its nickname as the "social Ivy." However, a number of guides reported that they had not received any inquiries about the alcohol policy, though most said they were expecting such questions. "None of the people on my tours have asked me about it at all," College senior Nicole Kaplan said. And College sophomore Pamela Schafer, another tour guide, said "most students had no idea" about the new policy. Schafer said some students on her tour this week had looked at copies of the DP and asked questions about the alcohol issue, but she told them the policy was "tentative" and suggested that they get any further information from the admissions office. Another tour guide, College senior Shailaja Koppolu, said her tour group walked passed College Green Tuesday afternoon during the rally, but even after she encouraged group members to ask questions, none of them did so. "None of the students or parents seemed to be cognizant of the fact that there was a rally going on," she said. Koppolu added that she had heard that other "tours were approached and interrupted" by Penn students who spoke about the alcohol policy with students on the tours, though she noted that such interruptions in general are not uncommon. And College sophomore Kevin Leland said the new policy has caused him to stop giving tours. The "theme" he likes to talk about with prospective students is that Penn has a unique balance of academic and social lives -- and he no longer feels comfortable doing so, he said. Admissions Dean Lee Stetson declined to comment on any inquiries his office might have received from applicants about the new alcohol policy. Other admissions officials also declined to comment, citing an Ivy League press blackout period this week, when admissions letters are sent to applicants. However, University spokesperson Ken Wildes said he had not heard of any such inquiries being made. "I'm not aware that there has been any expressed concern by prospective students or their parents," he said. Wildes also said that he didn't know of any plans by the University to specifically address the issue in mailings to accepted students during the next month. "I don't think we would do that," he said, noting that while nothing "proactive" has been planned at this point, it could be possible after the University's alcohol task force completes its work. However, he added, "We will always address questions that are put to us."