A committee consisting of students, administrative officials and Public Safety has decided to enforce underage drinking laws at Spring Fling by requiring students over 21 to wear wristbands at the event.
The decision was a compromise reached between student members of the Social Committee, Public Safety, and officials from the Student Activities, Leadership Development and Dean’s offices.
“Because of the problems during the last couple of years at Spring Fling the decision was made to try to tighten certain aspects of the event,” said Director of Public Safety Maryann Wiggin.
According to Social Committee member Annie Heindel ’06, these problems include fighting and furniture set on fire and were a liability for the University.
“The University had to do something different,” Heindel said. “They were either going to have to cancel Spring Fling if they didn’t find a way to make a good faith effort to reduce underage drinking.”
The change comes at the same time as a new Middletown ordinance that makes consumption of alcohol by minors on private property a prosecutable offense. As all University property is private property, Middletown police may now arrest underage individuals drinking anywhere on campus, including Foss Hill, the location of Spring Fling.
“Given what I have seen at Spring Fling in the past and given Middletown’s new ordinance, I think that probably something had to be done to address underage possession and consumption at the event,” said Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley.
Spring Fling is a concert held the first day of reading week every spring semester. A headliner for this year has not been chosen, but past performers have been The Beatnuts and The Roots.
Initial suggestions included creating a “beer garden” area where students over 21 could drink alcohol, or fencing off the entire area and checking IDs at entry points.
“Both of those ideas were pretty unacceptable to both the Social Committee and the WSA,” Heindel said. “Working with both of those we put together a proposal for a compromise where there would be bracelets given out to everyone who is over 21 so that Public Safety could see them and know that they were fine.”
In addition to the wristbands, indoor furniture will not be allowed at the event, and grills will be allowed only in a certain area.
“When you have furniture being lit on fire and people are being told to stop and they don’t, it’s a problem,” Wiggin said.
Those involved in the decision agree that it is a suitable compromise that meets the needs of both students and event managers.
“It makes sense to try this,” Whaley said. “I’m hopeful that it will work and that everyone will have a good time.”
“I am happy with it as a compromise,” Heindel said. “I think it’s a really good way of making the good faith effort.”
Heindel admitted, however, the difficulties in actually lowering underage drinking.
“It just means that people have to be less blatant about it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s going to curb that much of the drinking at all.”
Staff members from Mountainside, a resort in Wallingford where senior cocktails have been held in the past, will be hired to help enforce the wristband rule at the event.
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