First-Years Contacted Over Grille Incident

Four first-years who used false identification to drink at the Crimson Sports Grille in December will be brought before the Administrative Board next week, and an assistant dean of freshman told one student he would probably receive an official "admonishment" for the incident.

The Crimson reported two weeks ago that the Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission (ABCC) was attempting to temporarily suspend the Grille's liquor license because several underage Harvard students were caught there by ABCC investigators in a sting on Dec. 15.

The Freshman Dean's Office (FDO) sent the students e-mails last week to schedule interviews.

The e-mails informed each student that the ABCC had reported their names, the drinks they consumed and the types of identification they used to gain entry to the bar.

In one of these e-mails, an assistant dean of freshmen asked the student to write up a statement before the interview which would include how he had obtained his fake ID and where else he had used it.

One student was told that his use of fake identification was the primary cause of his appearance before the Ad Board, rather than his possession of the identification or underage drinking.

Assistant Dean Philip A. Bean said he was not entirely sure how the College learned of the underage drinking, although The Crimson reported the incident two weeks ago.

"To my knowledge, the ABCC has not informed the FDO in this or any other case, nor did we request that this be done; the report was simply sent to us, however hard that may be to believe," he wrote. "The ABCC seems to have notified [Harvard Police], who then sent this on to University Hall, which then, as per normal practice, forwarded the report to the appropriate resident deans for handling."

An ABCC investigator could not confirm that the commission had voluntarily released the students' names to any Harvard agency. One student present during the ABCC sting said that the investigators had assured a Harvard student whose identification was confiscated that his name would not be released to the University.

Students who were at the Grille when the sting was conducted said that the investigators were dressed in plainclothes and casually approached a table where they showed the students their badges and asked them for the IDs they had used to enter the establishment.

"It was like a sneak attack," said one of the Grille patrons carded by investigators. "The people at the other end of the table walked away, and they didn't seem to bother them. I guess I was just at the wrong end."

The student said one first-year had provided a false name to the investigators and had been let go, but another Harvard first-year who was also carded said the investigators used their walkie-talkies to call into a database to verify that the name he provided was correct.

"It wasn't worth it for me to do something slick," he said.