Campus Council discussed Eddie Hull’s response to its October resolution addressing inconsistencies in alcohol policy enforcement at its meeting Thursday night. Members expressed concern that Hull, executive director of housing services and dean of residence life, had sidestepped the important issues of the resolution and had failed to give credence to the motivations fueling the inquiry.
Council members took issue with several aspects of Hull’s response: that he maintained the need to document students who violate the alcohol policy and that he underscored the importance of RLHS staff’s judgment in enforcement situations.
The real purpose of the resolution was to codify a consistent enforcement of the alcohol policy and Hull avoided this issue in his response, said senior Anthony Vitarelli, Campus Council president.
“[His response] tried to uphold the status quo, that there is no clear cut alcohol enforcement policy, and that really was the main meat of what we were trying to resolve,” said sophomore Damjan DeNoble, the council’s vice president.
Hull’s lack of attention to the “comment stage” of the enforcement process—the step in which RLHS staff notifies a student that they have violated the alcohol policy—caused a stir among council members. The council had recommended using the comment stage more often rather than immediately documenting violations to improve student-staff relations and resolve inconsistencies in enforcement, members said.
Council members also expressed concern that Hull failed to take into account the fact that the resolution was based on RLHS staff feedback and recommendations. Conversations with residence coordinators and assistant deans framed the council’s recommendations, Vitarelli said. “We had hoped that he would address recommendations in the voice of his staff,” he added.
Another point of contention was Hull’s response to the council’s suggestion that paid party monitors distribute cups at large-scale events instead of the A-Team—a group of administrators who serve as preliminary security at large-scale events. While Hull acknowledged that the issue was outside his jurisdiction, he suggested that Campus Council itself assume this role.
Campus Council agreed that the only way to hammer out the discrepancies between their resolution and Hull’s response was to meet and discuss the enforcement issue face-to-face, hopefully at the council’s next meeting. Members said only in this forum would they be able to clearly communicate to Hull the resolution’s overarching goal—to implement consistent enforcement of the alcohol policy.
DeNoble acknowledged that the resolution may have failed in not providing a definite model which RLHS staff could utilize when enforcing the alcohol policy, such as a form recording the circumstances of the documentation.
Associate Dean of Student Life Joe Gonzalez defended Hull’s response. “Eddie did read this resolution very thoroughly and took his response seriously,” he said.
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