February 2, 2012
President Joan Hinde Stewart began the Saturday’s Community Meeting on Alcohol with a striking
statement: “Your presence here demonstrates that you are concerned. Your college needs your
help.” We were impressed that the Community Meeting encouraged constructive criticism about the
issues of the current Hamilton drinking culture. It seems that the ideas expressed, however, will only
be effective if both the students and administration are willing to make adjustments.
Helping students to understand the consequences of our actions is essential to changing the alcohol
culture. As last week’s editorial stated, if Nancy Thompson continued to send out emails on a
semi-regular basis summarizing alcohol-related incidents, the campus would be better informed of
the impact and consequences of their drunken decisions. Dean Thompson’s initial email documenting
such incidents was eye-opening to many students and made people question their behavior. Many
students, however, were convinced that the email simply reflected “first week back” tendencies; subsequent
emails will help give students a sense that these issues are prevalent throughout the semester.
They would also maintain conversation and help the entire community track our progress in making
Hamilton a cleaner, safer place.
Including more members of the Hamilton community in the conversation would help students
understand the consequences of their actions. Many students suggested that custodians and Physical
Plant (those who bear the brunt of our drunken mistakes) should be involved in these conversations.
On the other hand, the people who cause the majority of the problems are usually not the same ones
who attend these meetings. Therefore, we need to find a way to get every member of the community
involved. If students were forced to face the people who mop up our vomit, repair our shattered windows,
and pick up every cup, bottle and can scattered around campus, they might think twice before
acting irresponsibly.
To curb the campus culture of binge drinking before a Bundy or Annex party, both student organizations
and the administration should strive for a new attitude toward parties that serve alcohol.
Student Activities makes it incredibly easy for any student group to reserve a space, putting the responsibility
of varying social options on the students. Currently there are only a few social spaces where
alcohol is allowed, and we have been conditioned to think of them as places designed for excessive
drinking. Encouraging a more causal drinking culture requires spaces that cater to this goal. If the
administration were willing to allow smaller, more casual environments where students can legally
drink, similar to The Little Pub, it could foster a change in the overall drinking culture at Hamilton.
Due to students’ initial impression of the drinking culture, it is unsurprising that nearly half of the
College’s EMT calls respond to first-year students. Though first-year students are required to discuss
alcohol use during orientation, the discussion ends when classes begin. Many students at the Community
Meeting suggested creating a healthy, sustainable dialogue between first-years and upperclassmen
that would promote safer drinking choices throughout the year. A peer mentoring system or talks
led by student organization leaders would build relationships between upper- and underclassmen and
educate younger students about how to drink responsibly. This would be an ideal opportunity for students
to change campus culture for future classes.
We hope that this can be incorporated into the revisions to orientation that will begin with the
Class of 2016, which will experience a different sort of orientation now that Residential Life has taken
over the responsibility of transitioning students from high school to college. We want to see the incoming
class better prepared for college life than past classes have been and hope that opportunities
to be involved in orientation will give upperclassmen the chance to help implement the changes that
we are exploring this semester.