Winthrop Restricts Stein Club

Starting tomorrow, the beer won’t be flowing as freely at Winthrop House’s stein club, known as “Absolut Thursday.”

The weekly event, sponsored by the Winthrop House Committee (HoCo), will be restricted to allow only dues-paying residents to drink beverages and only students over 21 to drink alcoholic beverages.

The policy change is a result of “an inquiry from someone about our policy,” said Winthrop Senior Tutor Courtney B. Lamberth.

Winthrop House Committee President Jennifer E. Kavanagh ’03 said there was no formal carding system at Absolut prior to this week.

“In theory there was carding but there was no strict policy imposed,” she said.

“We have faith in the Winthrop Community that they wouldn’t abuse our openness,” Kavanagh said, adding that students were served alcohol under “the honor system.”

House Master Paul D. Hanson said he received an inquiry from a source within Harvard who “was interested in formulating a policy for their own situation.”

“It was an intercollege communication. We asked HoCo for a clarification and they responded with a remarkably clear and responsible reply,” Hanson said.

An e-mail sent out Monday to members of the House e-mail list, “Throptalk,” from the Winthrop’s House Committee (HoCo), outlined a new policy for “Absolut Thursday.”

Students will soon be given stickers on their Harvard IDs indicating whether they are dues-paying members. Only students with a sticker will be served beverages of any kind and students under 21 will be given a different colored sticker to ensure that they are not served alcohol.

Kavanagh said that the review gave Winthrop’s HoCo the chance to revise their policy on House dues. The HoCo had been experiencing financial trouble.

Other houses have had stricter policies for their Stein Clubs.

Kirkland House’s HoCo chair Angela M. Salvucci ’03 said the house always cards students and only allows dues-paying members to attend.

Leverett’s Stein Club has a similar policy which allows only students over 21 to join and has a no-guest policy.

“Tutors are around at all times and they know who the students over 21 are,” said Karthik Muralidaharan ’98, a Leverett House tutor.

So far, the Winthrop HoCo has not received any backlash from residents, Kavanagh said.

She said she expected to get more of a reaction from the House and anticipates some resistance to the new policy.

Some underage students said they dislike the change.

Neil G. Ellingsworth ’05 said that although he agrees with the new crackdown on dues paying, the new carding policy is a bad idea.

“It was a safe environment,” he said, adding that nobody was drinking to excess. “Last time I went to Absolut, I did a complete problem set afterward.”

Kavanaugh said Absoult Thursday helped foster house spirit.

“It’s not all about drinking but about coming together,” she said. “It came down to changing the policy or not being able to continue with Absolut Thursdays. I really hope that students will not stop coming.”