By Nathan Karnovsky and Elizabeth Douglas
Over a week has passed since the Sept. 3 police raid of Lloyd Around the World, but the community is still talking and wondering about the changes Haverford will see because of the incident, especially regarding alcohol use on-campus.
No decisions have been made in terms of the alcohol policy, but JSAAPP held a student-only forum on Thursday.
About 25 students attended the JSAAPP meeting in Founders Great Hall. People talked about making the alcohol policy more clear-cut, accessible and easily enforced by both the administration and the student body. Andrew Thompson ’12 suggested making the document itself shorter so that students would be more willing to read it.
“It should be less than two pages," said Thompson. "It should be less than one.”
Various other ideas were brought up at the discussion about how to make parties with drinking safer. These included making Tri-Co ID’s necessary to get into any party, insisting that students wear a wristband for every drink they’ve had, taking more accountability for guests, putting an end to outdoor drinking, and redefining a ‘private party.’
Outside the meeting too, many have talked about students needing to take more responsibility. An HCA sophomore who wished to stay anonymous said, “We have to face the consequences of our actions.”
A Leeds resident said anonymously, “Use common sense. And don’t use Facebook to advertise [drinking] parties.”
However, even though students emphasized responsibility, few saw the necessity to drastically change the alcohol policy.
“Our alcohol policy is one of the best in the county," explained a sophomore prospective English major. "People can comfortably drink here. [The policy] doesn’t encourage drinking — it encourages safety.”
At the Thursday night meeting, JSAAPP Co-Chair Ryan Fackler ’11 said, that the alcohol policy isn’t broken.
"It hasn’t been enforced and so it’s easy to ignore,” he said.
JSAAPP Co-Chair Jen Zelnick reminded the group that, as it stands, the alcohol policy is at least a good first step.
“It is important to remember that even on our bad years, we have a much better record than other schools," Zelnick said. "Although our alcohol policy isn’t perfect and people don’t always follow it, we’re headed in the right direction.”
Despite the reluctance to change the alcohol policy, the discussion at the meeting still shifted to how to make an amendment. In committee would be more efficient, but at plenary would be more democratic.
“My goal is to get an alcohol policy ratified in plenary,” said Fackler.
He suggested that if this did not happen, the community could call for a special plenary.
Honor Council Co-Chair Gabe Schwartz ’10 said at the JSAAPP meeting that the most pervasive issue is actively practicing the social honor code since it may have been a student who made the call to the police.
“How do we go about making confrontation a more viable option?” he asked.
“I’ve never been to a party where I felt peer pressured to drink,” said Dan Kent ’11. “[The student] should have waited and seen how this Haverford community works and not jumped the gun.”
Outside the meeting, a Gummere resident said anonymously, “The alcohol policy is ratified at Fall Plenary every year. There are established methods for disagreeing with it.”
An anonymous Lunt resident said, “If a student did call the cops, I think they must not feel like part of the community. There must be a deeper problem than a simple moral objection to underage drinking.”
Indeed, students conceded that the Haverford social life tends to be focused on alcohol.
“I do think that there is no strong outlet for sober activities [on campus],” said an anonymous HCA sophomore. “It is hard for those who don’t drink—no one goes to straight-edged shows.”
The Lunt resident agreed: “We need to tone it down, there is a lot of flagrant drinking here.”
Rumors have been flying about the person who made the tip to the police. On the Anonymous Confessions Board website, some students called for the separation of the anonymous caller. Accusations regarding particular students only ended when Honor Council Co-Chair Inez Suhardjo HC ‘10 left a comment asking people to stop the speculation and address the issue through “more appropriate means.”
The administration was not aware of the online accusations until being told by The Bi-College News.
“Calling for someone’s separation without due process of any kind…sounds highly immature,” said Dean of the College Martha Denney.
“My only response is, you’ve got to be kidding," said President Dr. Stephen G. Emerson ‘74. "It’s a totally inappropriate way of communicating among students.”
As for the raid, many students agreed that they are feeling the effects. Although people have not stopped drinking, some say the incident has driven drinking somewhat underground. Many saw connections between the Lloyd incident and the occurrence at the 80’s Dance, where a freshman girl fell out a window of Founders and hurt her head.
“I think there are going to be a lot more alcohol incidents,” said the anonymous English major. “People are pre-gaming quickly in their room. They are scared and uncomfortable and they’re drinking too much, too quickly alone.”
The sophomore living in HCA said that he hoped the events at Lloyd would serve as a reality check.
“I really hope that the events at Lloyd Around the World open the eyes of the Haverford community to the blatant lie that … that there is a ‘Haverbubble,’” the student said.
Another concern many upperclassmen expressed is the long-term impact of the Lloyd raid on the Class of 2013.
“The freshmen will have a more severe response, I think, because they haven’t seen the system work,” explained a Jones resident. “They must be thinking, ‘What the fuck did I sign up for here?’”
Meanwhile, students are wondering whether they will lose their annual outdoor parties. Near the end of the JSAAPP meeting, Kent asked whether Haverfest was at risk of putting students at risk for underage drinking citations.
“That’s an entirely different forum for an entirely different day,” Zelnick said.
This article is © 2008 The Bi-College News. The material on this page is free for personal or educational use, but may not be reproduced, reprinted, republished, redistributed, or otherwise transmitted to a third party without the express written permission of The Bi-College News, 370 Lancaster Ave, Haverford, PA 19041.
Editor's note: Articles that appear in the Last Word section are works of satire.
- PLOUT — Students Evaluate Drinking Before, After Lloyd Raid
- JSAAPP Modifies Alcohol Policy; Policy Will be Up For Approval at Plenary
- JSAAPP Addresses Parties
- HC Reflects on Raid and Fire in Forum
- A New JSAAPP
- Two on Tap for HC Plenary
- ‘Alcohol Party’ Stresses Student Involvement
- JSAAPP Hosts Haverford Alcohol Awareness Week
- Plenary at Haverford Results in Changes to Alcohol Policy
- JSAAPP Plans to Update Party Guidelines
Related articles
