Drinking policy shifts from hands-off to prevention, teaching

The University's approach to student drinking has gone through a series of drastic changes over the past decade. Prior to 1999, Penn had a hands-off policy that merely reiterated state law.

The current policy is more comprehensive, approaching the issue from a perspective of education, prevention and enforcement.

The policy has been in flux since March 1999, when Penn alumnus Michael Tobin died at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity house after consuming large amounts of alcohol.

Within days of Tobin's death, then-University President Judith Rodin enacted a campus-wide ban on alcohol that lasted until April 28 of that year. Though a temporary lift was considered, the ban remained in place that Spring Fling weekend.

Many students were outraged by the ban -- which was enacted without seeking undergraduate input -- and staged a massive protest with over 1,000 participants on College Green.

During the ban, Rodin and then-Provost Robert Barchi started the Working Group on Alcohol Abuse, composed of 15 students and seven faculty members, to consider a new campus-wide policy. The group's composition differed significantly from that of previous committees, which had placed greater emphasis on faculty and administrative input.

"I think [Barchi] knew that at this time ... it needed to be student-driven, or it wasn't going to be able to happen," Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives Stephanie Ives said.

Ultimately, the group produced 44 policy proposals and initiatives. These recommendations supplanted Penn's existing alcohol and drug policy and the Greek Alcohol Management policy, which had held Greek students to a much stricter standard than the rest of the campus.

"The University's alcohol policy essentially reflected what was in the Greek alcohol policy," Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs Director Scott Reikofski said.

The new measures focus on alcohol abuse rather than use, thereby defining the University's goal as managing undergraduate consumption rather than attempting to eliminate it. One major change to the policy was the creation of a new position of director of alcohol policy initiatives, signaling Penn's greater commitment to proactive alcohol monitoring.

At that time, a campus-wide "Bring Your Own Beer" policy was also instated, requiring students to bring their own drinks to campus registered parties if they chose to drink.

Yet, after alcohol monitors repeatedly reported widespread violations of the BYOB policy -- recognizing that the majority of party throwers provided alcohol for their guests -- the rule was taken off the books only one year after its implementation.

"The BYOB policy is actually the only policy clause that was changed. ... Organizations were still providing alcohol at parties, and we didn't want to have policy on the books that wasn't working," Ives said.

While Ives stressed that the alcohol policy is a living document under constant review, no changes have been made to the official guidelines since that change in 2000.

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