By Nick Norlen, Staff Writer
In vino veritas, but the presumably dry discussion on Tuesday among Princeton Borough Council, Princeton University officials and members of the university affiliated eating clubs about alcohol consumption on campus still managed to be frank.
”We can provide a strictly regulated and responsible environment for the consumption of alcohol, but if students show up at our doorstep already plastered from doing shots of hard liquor in a friend’s dorm room, the damage is already done,” said former Charter Club President Will Scharf, who faces charges related to his alleged role in his club’s distribution of alcohol to minors.
The meeting, the university’s annual report to the borough about alcohol related issues on campus, focused primarily on the university’s recently formed Alcohol Coalition Committee and efforts by eating club presidents to curb dangerous drinking activities on Prospect Avenue and campuswide.
The formation of the coalition closely followed revisions to the university’s alcohol policy that mandate dormitory hallway patrols by the university’s Public Safety officers.
Corner House Director Gary DeBlasio, who has worked with a number of the eating club members ordered to do community service for alcohol-related charges against their clubs, introduced a number of the club leaders Tuesday.
Among them was Mr. Scharf, who is scheduled to appear in court on March 10.
”We’ve really made tremendous strides in the last few years when it comes to drinking on Prospect,” Mr. Scharf said, listing initiatives such as hired security, distribution of wristbands to those over 21, and the offering of non-alcoholic beverages at parties.
However, he said he believes much of the high-risk activities that occur are out of the clubs’ control.
”Unfortunately these things do occur in this town because of the presence of a university,” he said. “It’s unfortunate and I think it’s something we should work together to combat, but I don’t think that talking of closing the eating clubs or increasing the prosecution of the eating clubs is a productive way of bringing about the desired end.”
Instead, he said he believes that statistics would show that more dangerous situations occur more frequently on the nights that the eating clubs are not open.
Vice President for Campus Life Janet Dickerson said the university is working to gather statistics on the problem.
”We’re certainly making a valiant effort to do that,” she said. “(But) sometimes the measures that are easiest to collect are not the ones that tell us the extent of the problem or the challenges we face.”
Nevertheless, Councilwoman Wendy Benchley said that “real progress has been made,” and said she is worried that if club presidents continue to be prosecuted, it will discourage the best candidates from seeking those leadership positions.
That concern was seconded by a number of the eating club leaders present as well as Mr. DeBlasio, who said progress “will go backward” if that continues to happen.
Still, Councilman Andrew Koontz said that while presidents haven’t always been prosecuted, the responsibility of what happens at the clubs was always there.
And though Councilman David Goldfarb said he appreciates the work of the coalition and the recent policy changes, he said he believes “the university does not feel directly responsible for the drinking that takes place.”
Dean of Undergraduate Students Hilary Herbold disagreed, and listed the various sanctions that the university uses to address the “hundreds of alcohol violations” that she said keep administrators “quite busy” each year enforcing drinking both on and off campus.
”We need to find ways of making sure that people are abiding by the law,” she said. “It’s a challenge.”
Mayor Mildred Trotman said the meeting was one of the most positive discussions the two parties have had on the subject.
”We will obviously want to continue our meetings,” she said.
