In the past several weeks, alcohol consumption at parties has been a hot topic on campus, to say the least. As everyone is well aware, the TUPD has been consistently breaking up parties much earlier in the night than in past years. Aside from putting a stranglehold on the social life at Tufts, this behavior is especially troubling to students for two reasons. First of all, since no laws have been changed since last semester, the police action appears to be painfully arbitrary. Secondly, patterns of drinking have not changed in decades, let alone since last semester, so this intervention seems unwarranted. Although many people hate to admit it, drinking is a central component of college social life, and this involvement will not change.
So why is everything so different this year? There is no doubt that fear of liability plays a major role in these changes. When anyone gets injured, someone is assigned the blame. As we have seen in the case of the infamous MIT settlement, and most recently in the case of the formal charges brought against the president of a Tufts fraternity, people will blame anyone but the person who is ultimately responsible. It doesn't seem to matter that the individuals involved chose to drink themselves to the brink of death and beyond. Instead, the blame always seems to fall squarely on the shoulders of those who, for unknown reasons, are held accountable for the irresponsible decisions of others.
The reality of the situation is that although these cases of extreme alcohol abuse are few and far between, they provoke a disproportionate amount of disciplinary action. It does not seem likely that this pattern will change, and so fraternity presidents and residents of off-campus houses are now left with the responsibility of preventing these people from coming to their parties altogether. But how will this be accomplished? One solution seems to be to make an assessment of each person who enters your house, and then to decide if that person is too drunk to enter. While this policy is far from foolproof, it seems like it would be somewhat effective. It creates the problem, however, of generating crowds outside parties, which we know neighbors and policemen won't tolerate.
There is no perfect solution to this dilemma in sight, but something has to change. The result of both heightened police presence and increased threat of liability means that fraternities cannot continue to have parties as they did in the past. While this may not be too socially debilitating to the small percentage of Tufts students who are members of fraternities, it certainly will be harmful to the large number of students who consider the Greek system to be crucial to the social life at Tufts. So where will those people turn? Drinking in the dorms is no longer as viable an option as it once was, due to the stricter alcohol policy and the increased risk of being kicked out of school for a year. Bars and clubs are, to some extent, an option, but the University is better suited to protect students on Professor's Row than on Landsdowne street, so administrators cannot possibly feel comfortable with this solution. Furthermore, an influx of underage students using fake ID's will inevitably lead to a crackdown and more arrests, and eventually to yet another social outlet that will become unfeasible for students.
In an open forum two weeks ago, Dean of Students Bruce Reitman and Director of Public Safety John King, responded to student complaints about the crackdown on parties. In one example, they cited the fact that both the numbers of arrests made by the TUPD and the number of calls made to TEMS are approximately the same this year as they were at this point last year. Sadly, this statistic shows that there has been no beneficial change. The campus is not safer. The same sort of relatively innocuous partying that went on in the past is now being criminalized. The only difference this year is that now authorities are wrongfully harassing fraternity presidents and consequently the social life on campus is being destroyed.
Tufts students are trying to enjoy themselves in the same manner in which college students across the country always have. Unfortunately, an environment has now been created which is potentially more dangerous, and certainly more antagonistic than need be.
Jeff Fox is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He is a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
