The University's new alcohol policy was the topic of discussion and evaluation in a meeting between top Duke Student Government and Public Safety officials Wednesday morning.
Lewis Wardell, assistant director of Public Safety, said that the meeting centered on issues of enforcement, but also included some discussion of students' reaction to the first weekend with the policy. "There is generally a great deal of concern over the change in lifestyle," he said.
Trinity senior Marc Levin, president of Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, said that the alcohol policy does present some challenges to social life on campus. Although AEPi was registered to have a bring-your-own-beverage party last Saturday night, Public Safety entered the fraternity section several times during the course of the evening.
"It was kind of surprising," Levin said. "I thought that it was the type of behavior they said they weren't going to do. It was out of character for Public Safety."
He said that although Public Safety may have a right to enter the hallways of a dormitory, officers should not be there unless they have reason to believe that the policy is being violated or that someone's safety is at risk.
Trinity junior Bob Wong, a member of Beta Theta Pi fraternity, said that the new alcohol policy has made it more difficult to find a party on the weekend. "We dealt with the situation by having an off-campus party," he said.
Any concerns with the enforcement of the alcohol policy involve a question of attitude, said Trinity senior Lex Wolf, president of the Interfraternity Council. "The policy is about creating a healthy and vigorous social atmosphere on campus," he said. "Everyone wants to see the end of destructive behavior, but we don't want to see a situation where we scare social life off campus."
Although some students have expressed such concerns, Wardell said that they come as no surprise. "This reaction was anticipated by everyone on the [Alcohol Policy] Committee," he said. "I think the students anticipated it as well. Reality is just going to be a few weeks in sinking in."
Students who will be the most content with the new policy are those who will adapt most quickly to it, he said. "It will be those students who are the most creative in generating social alternatives."
Trinity junior Randy Fink, DSG executive vice president, said that the policy has been a huge cultural change for students and that students are now in the process of fighting that change. Such unrest will not last indefinitely, however. "Eventually we are going to come up with a happy compromise," Fink said.
Nevertheless, the current situation has engendered a somewhat awkward atmosphere on campus. "On the one hand, we're asking Public Safety to help support an increase in interaction, but on the other hand, they have to enforce the law," said Trinity senior Peggy Cross, DSG president.
Despite the fact that Public Safety is bound by the law, they don't want to be viewed as being adversarial to students, Cross said. "Public Safety wants to be a part of the Duke community," she said.
One of the major concerns that Public Safety brought up during Wednesday's meeting was whether or not students were willing to act safely and look out for one another, Cross said. "If students were taking care of themselves then there wouldn't be a need for Public Safety to enforce the alcohol policy," she said.
Wardell said that during the first few weeks of the new policy, students will be trying to determine how far they can bend the rules. "Unfortunately, students are going to be unhappy with any kind of enforcement," Wardell said. Public Safety's enforcement policy is very simple, however, he said. "If anybody is in violation of the policy or the law, they are placing themselves in jeopardy," he said, and Public Safety intends to put a stop to such behavior.
If a student, for example, is standing at a party with a can of beer in his hand and not calling attention to himself, a Public Safety officer would have no reason to approach him. If, however, he is holding something in a glass container--a violation of the alcohol policy--an officer would have cause to approach that student, ask to see proof of age and charge him with a violation.
Wardell emphasized that this is not a mean-spirited policy. "We are not going to intentionally do any harm to students," he said. "Behavior is still going to be the key to our enforcement."
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