Meetings held in effort to overcome objections of borough, state regulators
By: David Campbell
Princeton University officials are hopeful that a "pub night" event originally scheduled for Friday, intended to test the feasibility of establishing a permanent campus bar, will be allowed to be held as planned despite recent actions by Princeton Borough and state alcoholic beverage regulators putting a stop to the initiative.
University and borough officials, including university President Shirley M. Tilghman, Vice President and Secretary Robert Durkee and borough Mayor Mildred Trotman, met Thursday to clear the air over the "pub nights" initiative, officials said.
University spokeswoman Lauren Robinson-Brown said Monday, "From our perspective the meeting was constructive. We believe some of the misunderstandings were put to rest, and we’re hopeful that the remaining pub nights will be held."
Borough Clerk Andrea L. Quinty agreed Monday that the meeting last week was a positive one.
"We made clearer what our concerns were," she said. "I think it opens a communication. I know they are hopeful to have this affair again, and we are working toward that."
But Ms. Quinty said that it seems unlikely permits can be reissued in time for the "pub night" planned for this Friday. "I can’t say definitely not, but it’s doubtful it will happen," she said.
Ms. Quinty said the original permits for the "pub nights" events were withdrawn and that as of Monday the university hadn’t filed any new applications. She said approvals by borough and state officials would then be needed.
In addition, Mayor Trotman is likely to want to brief the Borough Council on the issue. While that discussion could be held at tonight’s council meeting, it has not been scheduled on the agenda, Ms. Quinty said.
The first of four planned "pub nights" was held April 14 at the Chancellor Green Café, located in East Pyne Hall on the university campus, drawing a crowd of about 300 including faculty, graduate students and undergraduates of legal drinking age.
Similar events were planned for Friday, as well as May 12 and 19, but permits for the remaining three nights were canceled by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control after borough officials raised concerns about the university’s intentions.
On the day the first "pub night" event was held, Borough Attorney Michael J. Herbert faxed a letter to Hana Ross, associate general counsel for the university, asking that the event not be held to allow for review by the borough and the ABC.
Mr. Herbert said Ms. Quinty, and police Chief Anthony Federico were unaware the events were a trial run for a permanent café where alcoholic beverages would be sold when social-affair permits were issued for the four separate applications the university filed for the events.
"There was never any indication that the university intended to establish an actual bar or pub without a club license for the premises on a regular basis," Mr. Herbert said in his letter. "These borough officials would never have agreed to the issuance of a permit to establish a café or a pub by the university without a full discussion with university officials, particularly a bar which will admit minors to the premises."
Subsequently, David N. Bregenzer, counsel to the director of the state ABC division, notified the university that the permits were being withdrawn for the three remaining dates planned.
University spokeswoman Cass Cliatt said last week that the "pub night" initiative reflects an effort by students to address a concern often raised by borough officials the need for a responsible approach to drinking by students and that the borough’s concerns stemmed from a misunderstanding.
Ms. Cliatt said the "pub nights" are intended as a very preliminary step in testing the feasibility of a permanent venue, and that university officials fully understand that, were the school to pursue such a venue, approvals would be needed through a wholly different permitting process. She said it would have been premature to seek such permitting at this early stage, which was why the university obtained the individual social-affair permits.
The "pub nights" are geared toward faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduates of legal drinking age as a model for responsible drinking. Princeton is not contemplating an undergraduate pub, Ms. Cliatt said last week.