University | 11:57 pm | December 10, 2012 | By Kirsten Schnackenberg

Admins launch new alcohol-related initiatives

Administrators have launched two new alcohol-related initiatives that aim to evaluate alcohol culture at Yale and seek ways to form a safer undergraduate experience.

In an email sent yesterday afternoon to the student body, Yale College Dean Mary Miller and University Secretary and Vice President for Student Life Kimberly Goff-Crews announced the “Task Force on Alcohol and Other Drugs” and “University Council Committee on Alcohol in Yale College,” which will each tackle alcohol use at Yale. The 15-person task force, which will be chaired by Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry, will focus on three areas of alcohol culture: safety and education, programming and communications.

Gentry told the News on Monday that Miller approached him earlier this semester and asked him to form the task force and develop tactics “to help Yale College make the undergraduate experience safer, and to protect that experience from the risks that alcohol and other drugs present.” The committee’s membership includes Yale Police Department Chief Ronnell Higgins, Associate Dean for Student Organizations and Physical Resources John Meeske and Yale College Council President John Gonzalez ’14.

According to Gonzalez, the task force has met five times since its first meeting on Nov. 7. Gentry said Miller may turn the task force into an “implementation committee” once the group recommends strategies and tactics regarding alcohol use to Miller.

The University Council Committee, which University President Richard Levin will convene in January 2013, will comprise of alumni and parents and aims to provide a “broad overview and more strategic guidance to the University’s senior leadership,” according to the email.

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