A group of American University students had something to hide from their resident assistants the first weekend of the fall '06 semester. And it wasn't their alcohol stash.
One member of the group, a freshman who wished to remain anonymous, had just passed out after having played a drinking game and consuming a large volume of hard liquor. No one was sure what to do with his unconscious body, the freshman said.
"We didn't really know the whole thing about transports," he said. "We just thought it was bad."
So they did what anyone might do with a bad thing on his or her hands: they attempted to hide it. The freshman's friends were carrying him onto the elevator and back to his room when an RA spotted them. The RA rushed down the stairs and met the group just as they were exiting the elevator two floors below.
"The RA goes, 'Drop him,'" the freshman said. "And [my friends] literally drop me because they were drunk, too."
This incident, though more bizarre than most, illustrates the ongoing conflict between on-campus residents and the administration. Because of the dry campus policy enforced at AU, no one, even those residents 21 and older, may consume alcohol on campus - unless it is either beer or wine served at an event sanctioned by the university president, provost or a vice president, according to AU's codes and policies outlined in the student handbook.
Approximately 79 percent of AU students living on campus have disregarded that policy at one point or another and drank on campus, according to a non-scientific survey conducted by The Eagle in which 120 students from all on-campus halls - Anderson, Centennial, Hughes, Leonard, Letts and McDowell - were randomly polled.
In an effort to subvert both AU's policy and federal law, students have altered their drinking habits. Beer and wine are no longer their drinks of choice. Hard liquors, such as vodka and rum, have replaced them because they intoxicate the consumer much faster are much easier to hide.
"You don't want an RA on duty to walk around and catch you," the freshman said. "So, it kind of promotes people to drink hard liquor."
This practice of consuming high volumes of alcohol in a short amount of time is known as pre-gaming, and it frequently takes place before weekend activities, whether it is going to fraternity parties off campus or dancing at D.C. clubs.
"I have friends who keep a lot of alcohol ... on campus," a sophomore who wished to remain anonymous said. "They drink here [on campus], and then we go out places."
This is where students run into problems. They pre-game in order to maintain a drunken state throughout the entire night. However, gauging what amount of alcohol will do that is difficult. Students don't want to drink too little because then they'll sober up before the night is over. But students also don't want to drink too much.
"Whenever I drink on campus, I don't plan to get drunk," the freshman said. "I just plan to pre-game and go out - that's usually what people do. Most of my friends who have gotten transported were just trying to pre-game [and] drank more than they should have."
The number of students transported for alcohol-related issues has remained steady from year to year, according to Associate Dean of Students Sara Waldron. However, this school year's figures - a total of 38 transports between the beginning of the academic year and April 9 - have already exceeded the greatest figures Waldron said she's seen since she began to work at AU almost six years ago.
"The most I've seen in a year total since I've been here is 35," Waldron said. "These are students who are reporting to me for the most part that they have been drinking off campus."
Whether those transported students are being completely honest with the administration about their drinking habits doesn't answer the question of whether those habits would change if AU abolished its dry campus policy. Some students said they believe the policy's existence has little effect on their drinking behavior.
"Even if we didn't have a dry campus, [students would] still be drinking," the sophomore said. "We have a dry campus and [students are] still drinking. There's a problem no matter what."
Other students said they believe the policy actually promotes drinking on campus, fostering a certain appeal to the secretive consumption of alcohol.
"It's always been my impression that because they make it a dry campus there are more situations of drinking," said Ethan Hicks, an RA on the sixth floor of Centennial Hall and a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences. "There's the added bonus of doing something against the rules."
Sometimes that rule breaking manifests itself in rather simple forms, such as averting the RAs' attentions by drinking quietly in dorm rooms.
"We've found that as long as you keep your noise level down and you act like you're not doing anything wrong, [you don't get caught]," the sophomore said. "And if someone knocks on the door, you hide whatever alcohol you have in a place that can't be seen from the door."
And other times, that rule breaking exhibits itself in more elaborately devised plans. Last September, an AU student attempted to sneak a keg past the Anderson Hall desk inside a duffel bag. An RA at the desk searched the bag and discovered the keg inside. The RA on-duty, along with two other RAs, then broke up the party to which the keg was bound, a room located in Centennial Hall, The Eagle previously reported.
Students who do get caught drinking on campus must attend an alcohol education program for their first and second policy violations. Any subsequent violations could potentially lead to a student's removal from the residence halls and suspension or removal from the university itself, according to AU's codes and policies outlined in the student handbook.
Judicial Affairs and Mediation Services, the office that handles university policy violations, receives about 600 cases in one academic year, according to JAMS Director Katsura Kurita Beltz.
"Of those cases, two-thirds involve an alcohol charge," she said. "And therefore, alcohol cases constitute the majority of cases that we see in the office."
In spite of the prevalent disregard for the dry campus policy, some students still said they feel as though it's inhibiting their social lives.
"[The dry campus policy] makes me drink a lot less because I don't have anybody to drink with most of the time," said a junior who wanted to remain anonymous. "Even though there are people who will break the rules here, I think it's kind of retarded that I can't have alcohol in my own room."
Lifting the dry campus policy would certainly make life a little easier for this junior. He's of legal drinking age and not only enjoys drinking with his friends but likes to cook with alcohol as well.
However, most students at AU would not benefit from the dry campus policy's abolishment. They're still under the legal drinking age of 21 and therefore unable to consume alcohol regardless of AU's dry campus policy, Waldron said.
"That would mean [that] only 25 percent of our student body is of legal age to drink," Waldron said. "The 21 year age law, realistic or not - that's what the law is where we are."
Not all students appear to understand that, with or without the dry campus policy in place, drinking for those under 21 would still be illegal. Waldron emphasized the importance of the federal law several times.
"Since most of the students in the residence halls are underage, alcohol violations are traditionally underage students," Rick Treter, director of residence life in the Housing and Dining programs, said in an e-mail. "Do I think banning alcohol in residence halls is the answer [to this underage drinking problem]? It's one very good one."
However, this was not the situation when AU first changed its status from a dry to wet campus in 1968. The national drinking age at the time was 18, allowing most AU students to legally consume beer and wine. D.C. law prohibited the sale of hard liquor to minors, so the university outlawed only those beverages on campus.
In the summer of 1984, AU seriously considered revoking its wet campus policy. President Ronald Reagan had just signed a minimum age drinking law that forced states to change their legal drinking age from 18 to 21. If a state refused to comply with the new drinking law within two years, it could expect a sharp decline in its federal highway funding.
That same year, an AU freshman, who had been drinking the first week of school, fell from the second floor of Letts Hall and died. Though the student's death was not the reason AU changed its drinking policy, The Eagle reported on Sept. 14, 1984, it made the university's decision to ban student-sponsored drinking parties much easier.
D.C. continued to maintain its 18-year-old drinking age, despite Reagan's signing the minimum age drinking law. After much pressure from Congress, D.C.'s city council agreed to increase the drinking age to 21 on Sept. 23, 1986. The District, however, stipulated that those who were of legal age before the new law was passed could continue drinking.
The Eagle reported that the following year, AU's Task Force on Alcohol and Substance Abuse issued a report to then-Provost Milton Greenberg concerning changes that should be made to the university's alcohol policy. Greenberg decided these changes should be phased in over the next three years. The first of those changes, instated in the fall of 1987, outlawed alcohol consumption and possession in the public areas of both residence halls and fraternity houses.
Tuesday Tavern nights, a regular social event at which students would purchase beer and their money would go to fund AU clubs, was eliminated the following year. And the year after that, AU banned the consumption and possession of alcohol on all campus grounds, except for the Tavern.
Nearly two decades later, the Tavern no longer serves beer or wine, and the only alcohol on campus is served at sanctioned social events. Otherwise, the campus itself is completely dry. Or so the administration wishes.
"Is it realistic that we would have a completely dry campus and none of our students would drink? No." Waldron said. "Would it be any different if we said we're not a dry campus? Well, we'd probably have more alcohol [on campus]."
The AU administration seems to understand the idealism behind the dry campus policy. It can be put in place and it can be enforced. However, it cannot guarantee that alcohol will completely disappear from campus or that students' drinking habits will make the transformation from reckless to responsible.
"I don't really think wet or dry campuses are the problem," said Anderson Hall Resident Director Hannah Wu. "It's students not knowing their limits."
The solution lies not in better enforcement but in better education, Waldron said. To accomplish this, AU will be hiring a full time health educator this summer whose primary job will be to educate students on drugs and alcohol, Waldron said.
"How do we get students to learn that you don't need five shots in half an hour to go out and have a good time?" Waldron said. "And if [students] make a decision to drink, how do you control that drinking throughout the evening?"
The answer seems pretty clear to Waldron: "Give students the information so that they can make personal decisions to have a good time but still remain safe."
American University has had a history of contentious alcohol issues as far back as 1968, when beer and wine were first permitted on campus. Since then, the university has gone through several changes, most of which have made alcohol consumption more difficult for students. Here are a few major events delineating AU's progression from wet to dry campus:
1968 September Students are allowed to consume beer and wine on campus for the first time. The policy is changed to bring AU's rules in line with those of other universities.
1969 March The Tavern opens, serving beer and wine to students. It is meant to be a "traditional club" and not a "beer hall."
1983 January-December The Tavern dispenses the largest quantity of beer out of any establishment in the District.
1984 Sept. 1 A freshman is killed when he falls off the second story flood ledge of Letts Hall. The student had been drinking prior to the accident. Forty feet away from where the student falls, the university is sponsoring an orientation dance at which alcohol is served.
1984 Sept. 7 The university places a ban on student-sponsored all-you-can-drink parties. The university denies that this is a result of the student death one week prior; however, officials cite the death as a reason to take a look at the AU alcohol policy.
1986 September The Task Force on Alcohol and Substance Use on Campus is formed to research and advice the Provost's office. Then-Resident Director of Nebraska Hall Jackie Sterner states that the university will no longer "put the blinders on" when students violate the alcohol policy.
1986 Sept. 23 The D.C. City Council passes a bill raising the drinking age to 21, but several council members say they acted only because Congress had threatened to cut the District's federal funds otherwise.
1986 October A ban is placed on outdoor parties serving alcohol, and all other parties are required to provide an equal availability of non-alcoholic drinks. Noise complaints and liability issues are cited as the reasons for the policy change.
1987 May Provost Milton Greenberg institutes the new alcohol policy, based on the Task Force's recommendations, in which alcohol restrictions will be phased in over a three-year period. Phase one of the plan begins, prohibiting the possession or consumption of beer and wine in any public areas of the residence halls or fraternity houses. Alcohol is also prohibited at fraternity rush events. Pan-Hellenic rules had previously prevented sororities from serving alcohol during rush.
1988 Fall Tuesday Tavern Nights, which had previously attracted capacity crowds to the Tavern, are banned.
November The university warns the three on-campus fraternities about violating the alcohol policy.
1989 Fall The final phase of the new AU alcohol policy is enacted, prohibiting the possession or consumption of alcohol on the entire campus, except for the Tavern and the private rooms in Nebraska Hall.
1989 Sept. 30 The grandfather clause in the District's drinking law expires, leaving no one under the age of 21 who can legally drink in D.C.
SOURCE: Reprinted from an article that ran in The Eagle on Oct. 2, 1989, written by Jack Crittenden.
American University's current alcohol policy restricts the consumption of alcohol on university premises, but does allow people over the legal drinking age to consume alcohol at specifically authorized university events. However, these events are highly regulated.
Alcohol Policy
American University is committed to maintaining a healthy and safe academic community that reflects high standards of personal responsibility and behavior. Alcohol abuse will not be tolerated under any circumstances. This policy permits the responsible use of alcohol in moderation by persons of legal drinking age and in accord with these guidelines.
Authorization Requirements
1. The president, provost or appropriate vice president must authorize alcohol service for all university events, whether the events are held on or off university premises. University premises are buildings and grounds owned, leased, operated, controlled or supervised by the university. 2. The president, provost or appropriate vice president must authorize the expenditure of university funds to purchase alcohol for approved events.
General Requirements
1. Consumption of alcohol is prohibited on university premises except as authorized by this policy. 2. Possession of alcohol is prohibited in university residence halls, Bender Arena and at open-air events. 3. Advertising that highlights the availability of alcohol at an event is prohibited. 4. University official reserve the right to check proof of age at university events. 5. University officials can deny admission, alcohol service or continued attendance at a university event to anyone who, in the sole judgment of the officials, is intoxicated. 6. Food or snacks and nonalcoholic beverages must be available at university events where alcohol is served. 7. One-price, all-you-can-drink arrangements are prohibited. 8. Bring-Your-Own-Beverage arrangements are prohibited.
SOURCE: Student Handbook
