No written alcohol policy, administrators say
Liz Essley
Issue date: 12/4/08 Section: News
At the English department's reception for literary critic Ralph Wood in fall 2007, alcohol was served to students 21 and older. But come February, at the reception for visiting poet Daniel Tobin, all students had to go dry. The same rule applied at the reception for poet Paul Mariani last month.
The seeming discrepancy denotes an aged guideline that has been modified and handled differently by various college offices over the years. There is currently no school-wide written alcohol policy dealing with college-sponsored events and dinners.
Saga, Inc. received its alcohol license in early April 2007. Saga catering is now responsible for all events that occur in the Dow Center, and a few that occur elsewhere.
Saga caterers never serve alcohol to students unless they are seniors of drinking age, according to General Manager Kevin Kirwan.
"Per the college's request, we are not to serve students alcohol, even if they are 21, with the exception of certain organized events such as homecoming, senior dinners at the president's home, senior events and the senior sidewalk painting," he said.
Other events, such as Parent Weekend wine tasting, are not catered by Saga, but serve alcohol with temporary licenses from the state of Michigan.
Yet Saga catered the Ralph Wood reception, where students were served alcohol. Kirwan said it was possible the bartenders had been confused on the policy, since Saga had hired servers previously employed by the college itself.
Before Saga received its license, the college hired its own bartenders and served alcohol at events on a case-by-case basis. The business office handled the requests for these events. Sheri Piper, a secretary in the business office who did most of the work of coordinating the alcohol service at events, including receiving temporary licenses, is now retired.
Controller for Financial Affairs Patrick Flannery, who has worked at his position since December 2007, after Saga received its license, said he now has little involvement with the alcohol policy on a day-to-day basis, but that the business office is still responsible for reviewing the policy for consistency - a policy which he summarized as: "In general we do not serve alcohol to students at events."
The seeming discrepancy denotes an aged guideline that has been modified and handled differently by various college offices over the years. There is currently no school-wide written alcohol policy dealing with college-sponsored events and dinners.
Saga, Inc. received its alcohol license in early April 2007. Saga catering is now responsible for all events that occur in the Dow Center, and a few that occur elsewhere.
Saga caterers never serve alcohol to students unless they are seniors of drinking age, according to General Manager Kevin Kirwan.
"Per the college's request, we are not to serve students alcohol, even if they are 21, with the exception of certain organized events such as homecoming, senior dinners at the president's home, senior events and the senior sidewalk painting," he said.
Other events, such as Parent Weekend wine tasting, are not catered by Saga, but serve alcohol with temporary licenses from the state of Michigan.
Yet Saga catered the Ralph Wood reception, where students were served alcohol. Kirwan said it was possible the bartenders had been confused on the policy, since Saga had hired servers previously employed by the college itself.
Before Saga received its license, the college hired its own bartenders and served alcohol at events on a case-by-case basis. The business office handled the requests for these events. Sheri Piper, a secretary in the business office who did most of the work of coordinating the alcohol service at events, including receiving temporary licenses, is now retired.
Controller for Financial Affairs Patrick Flannery, who has worked at his position since December 2007, after Saga received its license, said he now has little involvement with the alcohol policy on a day-to-day basis, but that the business office is still responsible for reviewing the policy for consistency - a policy which he summarized as: "In general we do not serve alcohol to students at events."
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