Georgetown Students Bristle At New Restrictions on Parties

By Susan Kinzie
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, September 8, 2007

Georgetown University is cracking down on drinking and parties in college-owned housing, with new crowd limits and registration requirements. Students are rattled, and some neighbors are angry that parties are winding up in their back yards.

In addition, the D.C. police commander for the district that includes the school said officers will be arresting students for party-related violations from now on, rather than issuing citations. The first two weeks of this school year have brought more complaints from neighbors about rowdy parties than he has ever seen, 2nd District Cmdr. Andy Solberg said.

Tonight, 15 to 20 officers will be assigned to the residential neighborhoods near campus, he said.

"This is not something we want to do," Solberg said. "I think everyone in the community wants cops out here patrolling for real criminal behavior," rather than hauling students in for public drinking or public urination.

"We would prefer that the college kids control their own actions . . . but if they can't or they won't, we'll lock them up," he said.

The school has long been known for its parties as well as its academics. But many students say the changes -- including a one-keg-per-party limit, new staff members enforcing the rules and tougher punishments -- have pushed social life off campus. Neighbors have complained as noisy parties moved to nearby Burleith and west Georgetown.

When student leaders took administrators on a late-night walk through campus last weekend, the first of the school year and usually one of the craziest, they stopped at a typical party spot and heard crickets chirping. Literally.

Just about every college in the country works to find the right mix, wanting to foster a lively, fun campus community and keep students from drinking themselves senseless. But despite decades of efforts by administrators to make campuses safer, students still get plastered.

Many schools require education and prevention programs for freshmen. And more and more campuses are going dry, said Gwendolyn Dungy of NASPA, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Educatio n.

"The legal liabilities are so much on people's minds now, they're feeling like, 'We can't do things halfway anymore,' " she said. "It's forcing people to go to extremes."

At Georgetown, many students said they felt blindsided by the new rules. (School officials said they have included students in discussions on alcohol for about a year now.)

Parties in university-owned housing are limited to 25 or 35 people, depending on the size of the apartment, or 50 in a back yard or on a roof. One keg per party. Students have to register parties, in effect asking permission from the university by 10 a.m. Thursday to have a gathering that weekend. Two over-21 hosts have to register. And beginning Oct. 1, hosts are required to be trained in safety and liability issues.

Townhouses for upperclassmen must have resident staff members keeping an eye on things. The university has a three-strikes policy, so three alcohol violations could result in suspension. And the school has banned alcohol paraphernalia -- a change that mystified many students. (Meaning those ice luges that some bars pour shots down? Funnels?)

Jenna Lowenstein, a junior, said tables that could be used for beer pong or other drinking games were among the examples given.

Within minutes of his party getting shut down last week, junior Pat DePoy launched a protest movement on Facebook.com. By yesterday afternoon, the group -- Work Hard-Play Hard, GU Students for Stopping the Madness -- had petitions with nearly 1,900 signatures.

"I've never seen so much campus uproar," sophomore Kayleigh Brown said.

Ben Shaw, president of the Georgetown University Student Association, said he has heard from many students upset about aggressive enforcement and off-campus safety.

"You can't just change the culture of a college campus," said Dan Castrigano, one of DePoy's housemates. "Eighteen-, 19-, 20-year-olds are going to drink. You just have to be smart about it."

Jeanne Lord, associate vice president for student affairs, said, "We're all trying to achieve a balance that promotes the safety and well-being of our students while fostering a vibrant social atmosphere on campus."

The school hired someone to design late-night events that don't center on drinking: a dance in the library, an outdoor movie, a climbing wall.

Brown, the sophomore, said she thinks too much of campus life focuses on drinking and that she knows students sometimes end up in the hospital. "But you can't just suddenly clomp down, put all these rules in after letting people do whatever they want for so long," she said.

Some students said they don't have much say, because most are underage and can't drink legally and are living in housing owned by the university.

Others say they want more reasonable rules.

Yesterday afternoon, juniors Camille Kolstad and Marie Federowicz, lugging cases of Bud Light and Natural Light uphill to campus, said they were having a few people over.

Not a big party.

"Because we can't!" Federowicz said.

Kolstad said it was too bad, because Georgetown's social scene could become more fragmented. And she doesn't feel safe walking home from the bars at night, she said -- campus is much safer.

Matt Hammel, one of DePoy's roommates, said, "I don't want to see people's lives affected long-term for a silly violation," like having a noisy party or stumbling around drunk.

"Things need to change quickly, or things are going to get worse. It's just another of the unintended consequences of this policy," he said.

"We have tried a variety of different tactics, as has Georgetown University, to be sure they can have a good time and not disrupt the community," said Solberg, the police commander. "Nothing has worked. . . . It's gone on too long now. "

Staff writer Clarence Williams contributed to this report.