Big Game Brought Heavy Drinking

Despite a heightened effort by the University to limit alcohol consumption at the Harvard-Yale game and its tailgates, University Health Services (UHS) treated a higher-than-usual number of students suffering from alcohol poisoning this past weekend.

Although official data has not yet been tabulated, UHS Director Dr. David S. Rosenthal '59 said UHS doctors saw a spike in alcohol-related cases over the weekend, beginning Saturday morning and continuing through the afternoon.

Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68 criticized the control of alcohol at game tailgates and said Harvard will investigate ways to improve the situation in future years.

"The service of alcohol in the B-school parking lot was definitely not in good control, and we are fortunate that no serious injury occurred," Lewis wrote in an e-mail message. "We will review what happened there and file away plans for how the events can be better run two years from now."

Harvard University Police Department spokesperson Peggy A. McNamara refused to comment about the presence of alcohol at any tailgates, but maintained that "no alcoholic beverages are allowed at any athletic event or any of the athletic facilities." The rules stem from an athletic department policy banning kegs at athletic events.

Any alcohol that is found at tailgates, McNamara said, is either confiscated or dumped out on the scene.

But despite these policies, McNamara said there were no police officers at the tailgating areas or in the parking lot to monitor alcohol consumption. She said officers were only on patrol in the Stadium.

Although the data from the weekend has not yet been reviewed, Rosenthal said he believes the number of students brought to UHS in alcohol-related incidents has increased over the past few years. He said the increase might be a result of more students seeking medical treatment rather than more students drinking to excess.

"More and more case are brought in, instead of people just lying in the street vomiting," Rosenthal said.

But he said he is not sure that banning kegs is an effective way to discourage excessive drinking, arguing that "a bottle of vodka can do more damage."

And while police may not have been effective in enforcing the athletic department's "no keg" rule at the game, they did eject two students from the Stadium.

One student ran onto the field in the middle of the game, and the other was involved in "inappropriate behavior by the goal post," according to McNamara.

"So we escort them out and say 'Goodbye, you are not welcome back,'" McNamara said.