“There Is Nothing To Do This Weekend” by Nathan Forman
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I approached this article predisposed to believe that our campus was less active during the weekends, even though by the numbers that’s hardly true. Fall semester 2011, All-Campus Events (ACE) sponsored 18 weekend “party” events; this year’s ACE has sponsored 16. Perhaps my perception stems from second-year conceit as I learn more about which parties or are not worth attending, or because I’m not longer overstimulated by the freedom to get drunk and go out without eventually coming home and interacting with my parents; or perhaps it’s because—to be candid—some of this year’s events have felt underwhelming. As I’ve taken the initiative to learn more about what goes into hosting an event, I’ve learned that the process of trying to host an event with alcohol requires deliberate time commitments. A plurality of factors contribute to this semester’s decrease in exciting weekend activities: ACE has had trouble finding organizers, Student Affairs has not adequately publicized Event Hosting Certification, and not enough students have proactively sought to throw parties. This article explains some of the reasons we’ve experienced seemingly lackluster parties this semester. Events Hosting Certification A significant bureaucratic hurdle party-throwers face if they want to serve alcohol is completing Event Hosting Certification. The Alcohol & Illicit Drugs Policy section of the Student Handbook under the subsection “Event Staff Required for Distribution of Alcohol” explains that if alcohol is going to be served at a party, hosts and alcohol servers must get certified. Event Hosting Certification requirement can become prohibitive when we consider that separate individuals must ful-
fill the various party-facilitating roles. “Roles of hosts, server, and wristbander must be filled by separate individuals. Additionally one person may not serve in multiple roles on the same day (i.e. A host may not also act as a server at the same event),” the subsection declares. Requiring that party hosts and alcohol servers are 21 years or older makes throwing an event all the more difficult. It’s important to note that Event Hosting Certification is more than just TIPs training. Clangrala RLC Becca Don works in Harm Reduction for Student affairs, so administration of alcohol-related policies fall under her dominion. In addition to sitting on the Harm Reduction Committee and working with Hall Wellness Coordinators, her responsibilities include overseeing Alcohol Agreements and the Event Hosting Certification, among other related duties. She explained to me that the difference between TIPs training and Event Hosting Certification is the difference between standardized and Grinnell-specific programs. Whereas TIPs training - a program which, per the TIPs website, “teaches participants to prevent intoxication, drunk driving, and underage drinking among the people to whom they serve alcohol, - was foisted upon the College by its insurer, Event Hosting
“Calling the RLC when your friend is too intoxicated to stand is self-gov, but an even more heaping spoonful of self-gov can occur a few drinks earlier by helping to prevent your friend from drinking to [that] level ... in the first place.” — Becca Don, Clangrala RLC
