GAPSA parties under new rules

The graduate student group mostly abided by its new alcohol policy. Just days after three graduate student organizations issued a statement announcing support for the University's new alcohol policy -- promising to serve alcohol only in closed-off areas and to enforce strict ID monitoring -- one of the groups sponsored an event where the new stringent guidelines were upheld with only minor glitches. The statement, issued jointly this week by the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the Black Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the Graduate Student Activities Council, pledged that beer from kegs and hard alcohol would be withheld from those groups' on-campus social events and that on-campus functions would be held in enclosed areas, whether inside or outside. The statement also stipulated that steps would be taken to ensure more efficient proofing of over-21 graduate students. Yesterday's GAPSA-sponsored event, a welcoming party attended by several hundred graduate students, was organized in two parts: the first, an indoor reception in the lobby of the Annenberg Center; the other, an outdoor party in Annenberg Plaza. At both events, attendees were served bottled beer and wine, rather than beer from kegs or hard liquor. A Daily Pennsylvanian reporter at the indoor reception observed many attendees making their way into the event freely and obtaining alcohol while offering only a graduate PennCard as proof of age, rather than the requisite PennCard and over-21 ID. Upon learning of the leniency, GAPSA officials acted quickly in reminding the hired bartenders to check for both forms of identification. "We are very committed to using the 21 ID-PennCard policy," GAPSA President and third-year Graduate School of Education student Deborah James said. Later, as the forum for celebration shifted from the indoor lobby to the outdoor plaza, security tightened. Spectaguards and other officials were posted at entrances to ensure that only graduate students were permitted entrance to Annenberg Plaza, and all those without the required identification were asked to leave. It was unclear at the outdoor bar if ID was required once again, as some bartenders asked just for graduate PennCards and others asked for nothing at all. The event occurred at the same time as hundreds of undergraduates walked by the area on their way to the Freshman Performing Arts Night at the Zellerbach Theatre. The undergraduates were diverted by security guards to the Annenberg Center's 37th Street entrance around the block. According to GAPSA Vice Chairperson/Treasurer and second-year School of Social Work graduate student Kendra Nicholson, the organization had taken numerous steps in conjunction with Cavanaugh's Restaurant, which catered the event, to ensure that alcohol was properly monitored and undergraduates were kept away. "We are being careful about roping things off and checking for IDs," Nicholson said. "We're well-secured with Penn security and Spectaguards and I think things are going well." Despite the fact they were serving alcohol while a major undergraduate event was taking place nearby, the event organizers said they were confident that they had maintained a role model image for the younger undergraduates. "We're a mature, over-21 group who is legally allowed to drink and who is doing so responsibly," James said. "I think we're providing a good role model for all undergraduates -- those who choose to drink and those who don't." And at least one undergraduate whose route to Performing Arts Night was diverted didn't seem to mind the inconvenience. "Good for them," College freshman Julia Blank said. "They should party just like everybody else."