In Loco Parentis

At last, Harvard’s alcohol policy is under formalized review. The College has created an alcohol policy committee, chaired by Cabot House Master Rakesh Khurana, charged with reevaluating current drinking regulations and proposing a new set of guidelines. Administrators have begun holding discussions with students in common spaces across campus regarding potential changes.

The contentious nature of Harvard’s current alcohol rules, especially in light of last year’s crackdown on in-House drinking, means that the present reevaluation is both necessary and welcome. Although Harvard ought to be concerned about the implications of underage drinking, the fact is that protecting student welfare is a complex task. Indeed, it may be safer for students if the College practiced some degree of salutary neglect with regard to on-campus drinking.

It is a well-accepted truth about the Harvard social environment that there are not enough safe, open, and inclusive social spaces. Yet, the fact is that there exists no shortage of venues where students could—in theory—socialize in an environment devoid of the malignant gender dynamics and reckless behavior that define many off-campus locales. The upperclass Houses, each a perfect microcosm of the Harvard community at large, are ripe with potential to be the sort of inclusive social space that Harvard students feel is lacking. However, college students socialize over alcohol. Therefore, the overbearing alcohol-control policies of the College administration prevent Houses from flourishing as they might. (Should anyone need convincing of the power of alcohol to draw students to House events, they should look no further than the 375th birthday celebration; the open bar was the reason many students went.) Lukewarm House spirit causes students to seek community elsewhere, and thus the College’s alcohol policy is culpable for driving much of the social scene off-campus, outside the protections that Harvard offers.

For upperclassmen, the best solution going forward is for Harvard to decentralize control of alcohol policy to House Masters. Masters know their House communities best and are well positioned to understand what regulations would promote or regress safety.

For freshmen the issue is different; for this group, the lack of inclusive, open, and safe social space presents the greatest danger. Harvard currently maintains a ban on alcohol in the freshman dorms. This policy is rooted in worthwhile concerns regarding many freshmen’s lack of drinking experience and newness to the college living experience. Certainly, this policy rids Harvard of much legal responsibility. Yet the fact remains that we have no reason to believe that such policies (and their strict enforcement) reduce how much alcohol freshmen actually drink. We do, however, know as a matter of certainty that these policies outsource drinking to off-campus venues, most notably male final clubs. They contribute considerably to the social exodus of female freshmen from dorm spaces subject to campus regulation to the exclusive and often predatory environment of all-male final clubs.

As the College’s primary interest in this issue is the welfare of its students, the revised alcohol policy ought to promote safe social spaces where students can socialize as they actually do—with moderate amounts of alcohol. We at the Crimson understand that the University cannot explicitly endorse underage drinking. Nevertheless, we believe that there exists ample room to positively affect the student experience by modifying enforcement practices. By returning control to the Houses and reforming freshman drinking restrictions, Harvard can decrease the risks caused by the College’s overbearing alcohol policies.