Uncategorized | 1:43 pm | April 1, 2011 | By James Lu

Hard liquor at Harvard off-campus formals? Not happening

Harvard students can’t hold their hard liquor.

Harvard announced Thursday that it would not permit hard alcohol to be served at off-campus formals this semester. The Crimson reported Friday that the changes in policy, which add to last year’s ban of hard alcohol at on-campus formals, would also require House staff and members of Student Event Services teams to check student IDs at all large House events.

The changes are part of a larger effort to curb dangerous drinking on campus, which Dean of Harvard College Evelynn M. Hammonds outlined in an opinion piece in the Crimson Mar. 8.

“It is puzzling to hear the calls from some quarters for a more relaxed policy on alcohol use and underage drinking,” she wrote, after elaborating on the increase in admissions numbers to Harvard University Health Services. “It’s even more confounding to see the Harvard-Yale tailgate used as an example of the need for this change in approach.”

In fact, Harvard’s tailgating policy — which include stopping alcohol from being brought into the student tailgating area, preventing the use of devices that allow rapid drinking of alcohol and providing non-alcoholic drinks and food free of charge — has been a “resounding success,” she wrote, adding that between 2004 and 2006 the number of alcohol related incidents at The Game dropped 71 percent.

Still, those at Harvard can still take solace in beer and wine. The Cambridge License Commission announced last year that beer and wine would be the only alcoholic beverages they will issue licenses for at ticketed events in Harvard dining halls.

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