Friday night's UTOPIA boat cruise culminated prematurely due to excessive underage drinking, Chinese Student Association (CSA) Vice President Diana Chang said.
There were over 500 students on the boat, including students from Tufts, MIT, Harvard, Wellesley and BC, CSA President Lien Duong said.
According to Chang, the boat departed at 9:30 and returned "between 11:00 and 11:15," or about an hour earlier than its scheduled return time.
The contract between Bay State Cruise Company, which operated the boat, and the UTOPIA planners was clear on the fact that any illegal activity would force the boat to return to the harbor.
According to Chang, students were frisked before they boarded the boat and given bracelets if they could prove that they were over 21. Once on the boat, only the students with bracelets could buy drinks.
However, if students with bracelets were caught giving drinks to students without bracelets, security guards cut off their bracelets.
The guards saw too many drinks in the hands of students without bracelets, which prompted them to turn the boat around to protect the Bay State Cruise Company's liquor license, Chang said.
"As far as we know, [the students who caused the problems] weren't Tufts students and they weren't associated with the Tufts CSA," Duong said.
She also added, "As far as I know, people had fun."
- Pranai Cheroo
