Yale's alcohol policy hypocritical

Camp Yale has come and gone and a new class has taken its place in these hallowed halls. Once again, the familiar sights and sounds repeat themselves; hordes of freshmen move from party to party, desperately seeking beer as if it were the nectar of the gods. Students pack the backyards and basements of off-campus houses to find themselves stuck between two smelly guys, waiting for hours around the tap of a keg, disappointed to find that the object of their evening has run out.

As Yale enters its 301st year, the messages that the University sends on the issue of drinking will again be inconsistent. Yale has acted aggressively in the past few years to curtail underage drinking off-campus; rather than taking responsibility for engaging in a dialogue with fraternities, they have used the Livable Cities Initiative (LCI) to regulate fraternities. New Haven police, no doubt at Yale's prompting, have been aggressive in enforcing open-container laws. Yale has responded strongly to several off-campus incidents involving alcohol, including the sanctions applied to the heavyweight crew team last winter. The University wants parents to know that it does not tolerate the abuse of alcohol, especially by underage students. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to know that their stance is just an act.

SU MON HAN/YH

Yale's attack on the activities of certain students is really a matter of expediency, rather than any sort of principled position on the subject of alcohol abuse. If Yale were really concerned about curbing underage drinking, it would abandon the system of residential-college Student Advisory Committee (SAC) funding for keg parties. Yale shouldn't crack down on the kids drinking on the front lawn while simultaneously funding the debauchery just inside the door.

Yale's hypocrisy has an important impact on the relationship between the Administration and students. How can students respect administrators who preach about the evils of excessive drinking while distributing cash behind their backs? When the University was caught off-guard by last year's incident involving a heavyweight crew team "bowling night," it immediately condemned the "excessive drinking" of the athletes, both on campus and in the national media.

Such actions would make it seem that the only people at Yale who know nothing about the rampant alcohol abuse on campus, especially among athletes, are Athletics Director Thomas Beckett and Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg. It strains credulity when Administrators claim that they are "shocked, simply shocked," at finding out that students are drinking.

Of course, this blatant hypocrisy can only diminish the credibility of Yale as it deals with any number of other student-life issues. Students, from fraternity brothers to GESO and SAS members, feel alienated from the Administration on issues of concern. These feelings are borne out of the inability of many Yale administrators to take clear and principled stands on issues that affect students. Even when Yale does act on the basis of principle, as it has in the GESO controversy, it is difficult not to question its motives, for the University has proven on so many occasions that expediency is its highest value.

Yale administrators can continue to claim that the health of students is their top priority. I can only snicker and laugh while drinking the 10th beer that Yale itself paid for.

Patrick Gaughen, CC '02, is Editor-in-Chief of Light & Truth.

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