The recent e-mail sent by Dean Quinley to the student body reiterating Pomona’s open container policy caused significantly more stir than administrative messages have in the past. There’s a reason for this–it involved something many Pomona students hold near and dear t, our alcohol and our right to drink it freely on campus.

As much as we revel in our liberal-arts environment with its even more liberal alcohol regulations, there’s a fine line between cultivating healthy and open drinking practices and promoting students to do nothing else on their weekend nights. As a school that boasts a keg six days a week, and prioritizes restrictions on under-age drinking alongside their water conservation policies, Pomona has succeeded in fostering an environment in which students feel free about drinking. Yet perhaps the school has taken things too far.

Recently, the Climbing Club on campus approached the Senate requesting the funds to buy mountain climbing gear. They were rejected, on the grounds that whatever supplies the funds could purchase would only benefit a small minority of the student body. Yet this same group could most likely have applied for funds for kegs for a party at Smith Campus Center or Eversole. Why? Because a party with beer would benefit everyone on campus, right? No, obviously not, but this idea does seem to color the manner in which we allocate social resources on campus.

Why is alcohol seen as more important than novel student resources on this campus? The Climbing Club, as do other specialized organizations on campus, provide something vital to the school–the option to do something other with our time than merely study or get drunk. As much as only a small number of students at this school are climbing enthusiasts, by providing for similar clubs, the school can ensure that all of its students benefits from organizations that provide interest programs both off and on campus. By supplying funds for a wide variety of such groups to buy important supplies, Pomona would be opening avenues for the activities that students are able to organize. Pomona, this year, has had startlingly more incidences of alcohol poisoning and misconduct than in years before. Is it possible that we’ve overestimated the effects of our alcohol-friendly intentions?

The recent Harwood Halloween serves as a good example. Though the concert was intended to be substance-free, there were open bottles on the premises. A drunken atmosphere, believe it or not, does make some people uncomfortable on this campus, while others sometimes seek events more low-key than the archetypal concert. Luckily though, students who craved a different atmosphere were offered the option to attend the RHS-sponsored Laser Tag, karaoke and bouncy castle event in the Smith Ballroom. This event provided the campus with a little more depth that Saturday night that complemented the loud music and partying merely by providing more choice of things to do. The campus would be fortunate if this was the first sign of an ongoing trend at Pomona–a trend of downplaying the role of alcohol as a collegiate requirement and promoting students here to get creative and make requests from our significant funds for events that are enriching, or at least that don’t always revolve around the geyser of free beer.

Sincerely,

Amit Thakkar