Mairead Widby

Drinking Problem?
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by Mairead Widby '01

Dance music streams out of the Haverford party where the small crowd is jumping, the music is bumping, and the kegs are pumping. Here, as is the case on most college campuses, the weekend social scene usually revolves around alcohol. But booze at the Ford is not the typical college party issue. It forces us to consider the community standards that we stress in so many other areas. While downing shots, we are supposedly watching over one another - hard to do in this era of alcohol poisonings and early AA interventions.

Qualms about Haverford's broadminded alcohol policy have always existed. As any alum will tell you, these same concerns existed decades ago. But after several cases of alcohol poisoning - namely the eight that occurred last semester at the Rhodes Halloween dance - and the apparent increase in pre-partying in the past few years, we have to ask: is there cause for greater concern?

Probably not. I would argue that most of these incidents happened because students at Haverford tend to be comfortable enough to call Security when a friend or a roommate has had too much. In my experience, phone calls are often placed as a precaution and not a necessity. There have been no reported poisonings this semester. Perhaps it was the community forum discussion, where the comments ranged from encouragement for dropping the Haverford melodrama to Dean Watter's heart-wrenching fear of someday getting the call about an alcohol related student death.

Still, while the numbers have gone down, many students claim that there remains a heavy emphasis on alcohol as the main way to have fun at the Ford. Putting my personal experience aside for a moment, let's focus on the mentality involving alcohol at Haverford.

You could go with the general take - the theory/joke/truth that Haverford's social scene is more reliant on alcohol since students use liquor to de-stress from academics or to loosen up around friends. But the fact is that alcohol is a major player at all college campuses and is uniformly recognized as the most widely accepted social lubricant. It could also be argued that Haverford students attempt to tailor our beliefs to prevent any abuse of alcohol. By acknowledging that liquor is a major player on our small campus, the College is ideally helping the student body be that much more responsible and safe.

But this ideal is not being followed through. There are, in fact, major problems to be dealt with involving alcohol at Haverford, primarily the fact that the students do not follow the guidelines of an Alcohol Policy which claims that "students are responsible for their own well-being, as well as the well-being of others." The alcohol policy also says:

"The bare-bones truth is that our campus, like many other prestigious schools, is increasingly facing rampant problems with how the student body as a whole deals with alcohol."

Students have the responsibility to confront others whose behavior under the influence of alcohol is inconsistent with their welfare and concern for others in the community. When community members lose their ability to reason and control their actions due to excessive alcohol consumption, it is threatening to them, to those around them, and ultimately to the community as a whole. Students should accept responsibility for preventing themselves and others from ever reaching that point."

For all practical purposes, however, this policy is mostly brushed aside. Haverford's trust in community standards - that is, students watching out for other students - is not working when it comes to alcohol. True, there are non-alcoholic beverages and snack foods available in party space. And some student groups have publicized weekend events such as talent shows, a Campus Center extravaganza, and midnight Capture the Flag with a specifically non-alcoholic tag. This thrust towards a community mentality independent of alcohol is good, but it does not help to decrease the situation that attracts the most verbal fingerpointing: students who "pre-party" with hard alcohol behind closed doors. Nor does it change the fact that most students disregard (or have not even read) a document which we ratify every year.

It matters little that alcohol has been and continues to play a major role in the workings of our school. The bare-bones truth is that our campus, like many other prestigious schools, is increasingly facing rampant problems with how the student body as a whole deals with alcohol. We're not going dry, nor will we staunch the flow of frosh who so eagerly anticipate the first Drinker party. But we can try to repair the situations that get out of hand, not only for our own well-being, but also for our school's reputation.

What truly matters, for both the school and the students as individuals, is that we re-focus our efforts to care for one another. It might mean intervention and risking friendships. It might include phone calls to Security, even when your roommate denies that they are dangerously drunk. "In order to keep the atmosphere of trust, concern and respect," the Honor Code reminds us, "we must be willing to face situations which may be uncomfortable. We cannot expect to feel at ease when confronting another student about his/her actions."

Perhaps, in the end, the "solution," if there is one, is a return to the Honor Code and the basic principles underlying everything at Haverford: "personal concern for each other" and the nurturing of "a climate of trust, concern and respect."