When Hotung officially re-opened yesterday, a ban on using out-of-state IDs to buy alcohol and a two-drink limit for beer and wine caught almost everybody by surprise.
Dining Services implemented the regulations, but students, Tufts Community Union (TCU) senators and even Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman said they had no knowledge of the rules until after 5 p.m. yesterday, and wish they'd been consulted.
The policy now in place is that to buy alcohol, students 21 or older must provide either a passport or a Massachusetts ID. No IDs from other states are accepted. Students who buy alcohol also have to wear a wristband that marks the number of drinks that they buy. Students can only buy one drink at a time and no more than two in one night. Reitman and Senate Historian and sophomore Neil DiBiase speculated that these regulations stem from legal concerns. Director of Dining Services Patricia Klos did not return two calls to her cell phone last night for comment.
TCU President Mitch Robinson and Reitman have both been involved in plans that renovated the space and added beer and wine to the menu. While they both met frequently with a group of interested parties, including Dining Services, they said that no one had mentioned the restrictions that students faced yesterday.
Both sets of regulations - those involving IDs and those involving drink limits - created confusion yesterday, but most of the frustration was directed toward the identification policies.
"People are definitely frustrated and students feel as if this is an instance of Dining Services creating loopholes and boundaries that aren't communicated ahead of time to them," Robinson said. "To me, it shows a failure on Dining Services' part to at least be transparent about [their] procedures."
Reitman also found the lack of communication troublesome, as Hotung, which is located in the campus center, is at the intersection of many intertwined jurisdictions.
The campus center is a building dedicated to student activities, the new renovation to Hotung stemmed largely from a Senate and student affairs initiative, and Hotung itself is a Dining Services facility.
"All those groups should be involved in a conversation about what controls are in place, and that didn't happen," Reitman said.
The policy in effect today, he said, is impractical since most students live outside Massachusetts or didn't bring a passport at school. "There should be another way ... that works better," he said.
From his perspective, Tufts-issued IDs, which include the cardholder's date of birth, should be adequate proof that students are of age to buy alcohol. "I don't understand ... why a Tufts ID card doesn't suffice," Reitman said.
Students who arrived for the official opening of Hotung yesterday were also surprised by the regulations.
Seniors Drew Giacomi, J.W. Wright and junior Stephanie Dueno, all of whom are over 21, had no idea when they entered the caf?© for dinner that they would need either a Massachusetts ID or a passport to buy alcohol.
Although he retrieved a passport from his room, Giacomi, a Connecticut native, felt that the drink limit and ID restrictions soured the promise that the new Hotung would enliven campus social life.
"It seemed like [the renovation] was a step in the right direction toward improving social life on campus," he said.
Massachusetts native Wright, who showed his state ID, was served, but said the drink limit would diminish Hotung's viability as a campus hangout.
"We're not going to sit here for a night to have two beers," he said.
With the new regulations in place, he said there was no reason for 21-plus students to prefer Hotung over local bars. "I think it's unacceptable ... It's just not worth it anymore," Wright said.
As for the requirement that students use a Massachusetts ID or passport, he said that it would be much more reasonable to require students with IDs from other states to buy their alcohol on points if Dining Services is concerned about fraud.
Though students could make a fake Tufts ID, he said it would be far harder to replicate the magnetic strip that dispenses points.
Dueno, a Georgia native who brought no passport and was not served, said she was "extremely disappointed and unhappy" that students cannot use out-of-state IDs.
"To expect everyone who's from out of state to have a passport ... isn't necessarily a fair assumption," she said.
Although it is still unclear whether these regulations will change, DiBiase said that he hopes to discuss them during a previously scheduled meeting about Hotung where a dining services representative will be present.
He said that he hopes a compromise can be reached that would allow more students to take full advantage of the new Hotung.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's unacceptable to make students use [Massachusetts] IDs," he said. "We'd be happy if they could just use their state-issued ID."
In reaching a compromise, he said the Senate will certainly defer to any legal restrictions on IDs should they exist.
"We're going to work with the admiration [in a way] that's within the law but also convenient for students," he said.
