Since the Alcohol Strategy Working Group released its recommendations for policy changes on March 2, it has been working on collecting feedback from the student body. The recommendations and feedback are now being considered by a small policy group, which will subsequently move forward with whatever policy changes they see fit.
The Alcohol Strategy Working Group, led by Vice Provost for Student Affairs Kevin G. Shollenberger, was formed this past fall to evaluate the University’s alcohol policies and to make suggestions for reforms. The group is composed of 11 staff members who work in concert with a student subcommittee of seven sophomores, juniors and seniors.
Senior Paul Markakis, a subcommittee member, believes the group’s recommendations will lead to beneficial changes within the Hopkins community.
“In my opinion, the group made tremendous strides in both identifying critical issues surrounding alcohol strategy at JHU, and making recommendations for changes that will have a lasting impact on not only the students but also the JHU community at large. Some of these, such as the party registration and monitoring processes, have already been implemented and demonstrated as successes,” Markakis wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Dean of Student Life Terry Martinez, the chair of the working group, said the group carefully evaluated the University’s current policies and composed recommendations.
“The group was very thorough in its deliberations regarding how it would employ strategies best suited for Hopkins. We gave full consideration to our community, best practices and how we could safely approach reducing dangerous drinking behaviors through various interventions,” Martinez wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
According to Martinez, the group’s aim was to evaluate student drinking rather than to prevent or prohibit this practice.
“The goal of the working group was not to remove [or] to ban drinking from campus. What we want to do is think about serious and dangerous behaviors in which our students are engaging and to create interventions that reduce or minimize student risk. And we had really candid conversations about that,” Martinez said during a March 4 community forum that she hosted in order to present the group’s recommendations.
Martinez said that the group worked on compiling student feedback from a variety of sources.
“After the recommendations were shared with the community we received feedback through the student forum, via emails, and in meetings with the IFC and the Panhellenic Board leaders,” Martinez wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Martinez said that the policy group is currently evaluating the suggestions from the working group and the student body, and the group hopes to implement new policies sometime in the near future.
“There is now a small policy group working on taking the feedback and turning the recommendations into policies. The goal is to have the policies in place as we enter the next academic year,” Martinez wrote.
The group is considering implementing several new policies.
“Examples include review of the Blue Jay Shuttle, development of an on-line educational tool, creation of a website where all the information can be gathered, articulation of the amnesty policy, etc. We will also need to consider on-going evaluations and modifications as necessary,” Martinez wrote.
Markakis is unsure as to whether the working group will be reconstituted next year, but said that he remains invested in the issues regarding the University’s alcohol policies.
“Although I have no information as to whether the group will re-form next year, I believe that several smaller subcommittees will be formed to begin to implement the recommendations outlined within the report,” Markakis wrote. “Several members of the group, myself included, have continued working on alcohol strategy even after the recommendations were released; while I cannot say with any certainty, nor do I have any knowledge supporting or discrediting my opinion, I anticipate these efforts will continue.”
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