The Undergraduate Assembly overwhelmingly passed a proposal yesterday urging student-led and administrative organizations to include alcohol policies in their bylaws.
The proposed alcohol policy will require that every organization develop a competency plan to deal with drinkers in emergency situations and identify high risk drinkers.
If member groups do not comply with an organization's alcohol policy, they will be subject to loss of funding or recognition as a group.
"If we can't legislate, we need to educate," UA Chair Jason Levine said of the current environment on campus surrounding alcohol use.
Levine stressed the importance of letting students monitor alcohol issues rather than administration.
The UA's initiative comes two weeks after the University's Alcohol Response Team -- a group of students, faculty and administrators formed to address drinking culture at Penn --proposed three specific changes to the University's alcohol policy. The revisions include increasing the number and competency of sober host monitors and mandating that guests remain in public areas. The University is currently waiting for feedback on the proposals.
UA members decided that handing more responsibility over to student organizations may be a more effective way to ensure a safe drinking environment on and off campus.
The Student Activities Council, Panhellenic Council and the Department of Recreation and Intercollegiate Athletics are a few of the organizations that the proposal may affect.
Many of these organizations, including SAC, as well as the Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives, Stephanie Ives, have already endorsed the proposal.
The UA eventually hopes to expand peer education and training on high-risk drinking through the Drug and Alcohol Resource Team.
Wharton and engineering senior and UA member Conor O'Callaghan said that the proposal is the first step for students to take control and affect change.
"There's no such thing as too much alcohol education," said O'Callaghan, who is also a columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian.
According to Levine, the proposal will not dramatically change anything, but it will create a buzz.
"We want to keep driving this in people's minds," Levine said.
Although Levine said "there is no sense of urgency," with reference to the immediate implementation of the proposal, he said he thought it was important for the UA to address the issue.
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