Alcohol policy changed in '99

Taylor Allerdice High School '98

Pittsburgh, Pa.

When 26-year-old alumnus Michael Tobin fell to his death on March 21, 1999, after hours of drinking with his Phi Gamma Delta fraternity brothers, the incident rocked Penn's campus. The slew of alcohol-related tragedies that had recently occurred at campuses nationwide finally hit Locust Walk.

More than a year later, the issue of alcohol remains at the forefront of the University's agenda as administrators and student leaders re-examine their policies in the aftermath of Tobin's death, working to change Penn's image from the "social Ivy" to the "socially responsible Ivy."

"I think that Tobin's tragic death was just an indication of a larger, campus-wide problem," Provost Robert Barchi said in an interview last spring. "It's a question of changing the culture."

Since Tobin's death in early 1999, the University has devoted more attention, funding and effort to addressing the issue of alcohol use and abuse on campus.

Within days of the Tobin incident, University President Judith Rodin temporarily banned alcohol at all undergraduate events while she charged Barchi with leading a task force of students, faculty and staff to make a series of policy recommendations.

Students erupted angrily in protest against Rodin's decision, staging the largest student rally that Penn had seen in the 1990s as they protested the lack of student consultation before Rodin made the campus dry.

But despite the on-going controversy, five weeks of intense discussions among the members of the provost-led Working Group on Alcohol Abuse produced a new, campus-wide alcohol policy.

Since being instituted last fall, the new policy has placed a total ban on hard liquor at all official undergraduate parties, stipulated that alcohol distribution at registered parties must end at 1 a.m. and called for stricter monitoring procedures at undergraduate events like fraternity parties to cut down on underage drinking.

In addition, the new policy has emphasized counseling and education about the dangers of alcohol abuse and called for the creation of more alcohol-free social programs -- such as late-night movies and concerts -- involving the college house system, University City businesses and other campus groups.

And to oversee compliance and implementation, the University hired Stephanie Ives to serve as its alcohol policy coordinator.

Although administrators continue to evaluate and tweak a plan they call a "work in progress," the effects of the policy have been noticeable on campus.

A year later, the number of fraternity parties has visibly decreased while the number of alcohol-free events has been on the rise as a result of more University funding.

But as student leaders and campus administrators anticipated, the campus culture has not changed so rapidly.

Many Penn students say that they continue to drink -- it's just that the alcohol has shifted to unofficial, off-campus parties and private apartments rather than University-regulated events.

Newly elected Undergraduate Assembly Chairman Michael Bassik, a member of the Alcohol Rapid Response Team that continues to periodically advise Barchi, said that while progress has been made, there is still a lot of work to be accomplished.

"You can't expect students who are used to a certain lifestyle to suddenly make the change," the rising College senior said. "We can't attempt to change the number of students who drink, but [to change] the environment in which they drink."

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