According to an email sent out to Trinity College students during reading week, the Heads Team and Dean of Students office are working with an external facilitator to help with the mediation process following the vote of no-confidence in the Dean’s office this September.

They also announced that Saints Ball, Trinity’s annual licensed charity semiformal, would be held as usual, ending Provost Mayo Moran’s ban on alcohol-licensed events, albeit conditionally. The event was held from November 18–19.

“Temporary postponement of licensed events depends on student behaviour during [Saints Ball],” said Co-Head of College Victoria Lin when asked prior to the semiformal.

The email added that the Heads Team and the Office of the Dean of Students are undergoing mediation “to restore trust and our positive working relationship.” The two parties will meet with the facilitator again on November 20 to see “where things stand,” according to Co-Head of Arts Lukas Weese.

The external facilitator, Chris McGrath, was appointed by Moran. He is currently the Associate Vice-President Student Experience and Registrar at Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College. McGrath has years of experience working with students, including a term as Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at U of T from 2006–2011.

“As our discussions to date have been positive, we were able to proceed with the Saints Ball in a manner that helps to preserve a fun and positive experience, while emphasizing safety for all students. The Heads Team and Dean’s Office are committed to continuing to work together to ensure a positive student experience at Trinity,” said Dean of Students Kristen Moore.

A new rule was introduced at Saints Ball this year, ending in-and-out privileges to the event. People attempting to exit and re-enter risked having their admission wristbands cut off. The purpose, the Facebook event page message said, was to “maintain student safety.”

Saints co-chairs Gabriel Ferland and Viktoriya Mykhaylychenko said in a joint statement, “We are unsure as to how much this had to do with the Heads Team and Dean of Students, as Saints has always been a difficult event to control and the Dean’s Office has always tried to find new ways to maximize security.”

Meanwhile, as the Heads Team and the Dean’s office work together to rebuild trust, Co-Head of Non-Resident Affairs Mitch Nader said, “Things are progressing normally for the rest of the student body.”

“Students can, and have always been able to, go to the dean’s office with their concerns,” confirmed Nader.

Some equate Varsity Stadium’s poor attendance during varsity football games to a lack of spirit. That would be true, but just a couple kilometres south, the opposite can be said for attendees at the Air Canada Centre (ACC), who are cheering on the Raptors or the Leafs.

Is it simply because people get more pleasure from watching the Raptors than from watching the Varsity Blues? Out of all universities in the OUA though, U of T boasts some pretty impressive standings. Rather, it appears as if the problem stems from the lack of a form of enjoyment that is automatically associated with sports: alcohol.

“I went to a game, like most first years do when they get into university,” said Arvin Reyes, a second-year media studies student. “But after being only one of 50 or so in the audience, and a large absence of alcohol when attending the game, I think I’m better off going to Western’s games with my friends.” 

A University of Minnesota study on alcohol consumption in sports showed that a substantive amount of post-secondary students were above the .08 limit while watching a game. This suggests that drinking goes hand-in-hand with sporting events, which is why U of T needs to consider offering it at its facilities.

Drinking in a more controlled environment is also safer for the students. Last year, University of Maryland president Wallace Loh said student leaders want to “transition from a culture of unsafe pregame binge drinking to a culture focused on healthier social drinking.”

Seeing as it would be impossible to eliminate the drinking aspect of live sports, it would be beneficial to incorporate it into these events legally. Plus, events on campus would encourage attendees that live in close proximity to travel by walking instead of driving.

Additionally, tailgating — when fans gather before games to socialize and eat meals served from the back of trucks — promotes a sense of school spirit and attachment that transcends attendance at a game. At Louisiana State University, for example, socializing begins the night before the game and continues on until well after the game.

In most cases, it’s not even about the game; it’s about the experience that a student has participating in something larger than themselves. It’s time U of T and universities alike recognize that alcohol facilitates that process.              

A recent article in the New York Times describes the relationships an attendee built while tailgating before a game. “Normally, you just talk about football, try to initiate conversation,” the fan said. “You just got to talk to people and then you realize, ‘ Hey, I’ll see you again next time.’ That’s the whole point of tailgating… you meet everyone around you.”   

Including alcohol in sporting events might bring about additional issues, but these could be prevented with the right type of controls. U of T could benefit from some increased school spirit at games and providing alcohol would be a step in the right direction.

FRATERNITIES and sororities on campus, also known collectively as the Greek community, have a reputation for enabling alcohol consumption. It is almost second nature to associate ‘frat parties’ with ‘booze.’

In the midst of stereotyping, however, we often overlook how the Greek community actually creates tiered systems of access to alcohol. Alcohol is not officially permitted in sorority houses or at the events sororities host.

One consequence of this is that Greek Week — a week full of events for both fraternities and sororities — hosts an event that explicitly excludes sorority members. The Facebook page for Greek Week 2014 notes: “Boat races is back for another year… Please note that sororities will not be earning points in this event nor are they allowed to participate… ” For boat races in 2015, the page noted that they would be observing the same rules as previous years.

This is just one example of a larger, more troubling trend in Greek culture. By restricting sorority members’ access to alcohol unfairly targets female students. Underlying this system is the denial of female competency and responsibility regarding the consumption of alcohol. Sanctions for alcohol consumption imposed on women in sororities also reinforce gender roles, in which women were expected to not ‘let loose’ but instead remain ‘classy’ and ‘sophisticated.’

Leah McLaren draws attention to such pervasive gender stereotypes in her review of the CBC’s recently released documentary Girls Night Out. The documentary claims that the apparent rise of binge drinking among teenage girls is linked to instances of sexual assault.

In addition to showing that the consumption of alcohol by women is actually decreasing, McLaren writes, “We are encouraged to judge these girls for their keggers and drinking games, and yet anyone who has ever known a 19-year-old will recognize their experimental behaviour as utterly common… In the end, all they seem to be guilty of is having a good time.”

The shaming of female alcohol consumption reflects a subtle sexism that still exists within the Greek community, which can result in various negative consequences.

The restrictionss on alcohol do not curb sorority members’ desire for it, nor should adult women be expected to abstain from alcohol. Many sorority members will go elsewhere to drink. These restrictions, by indirectly shifting the location of parties and drinking elsewhere, creating potentially unfamiliar and possibly dangerous situations for women.

Alcohol consumption remains a significant part of most students’ university experiences. Women are as capable of drinking responsibly as men are, and it is time that they are treated that way.

Sororities need to allow their members to participate in more events, even those involving alcohol, and at least allow women to keep alcohol within their own rooms. The adoption of such policies would also work towards removing the stigma around women who drink.

I am not advocating for increased alcohol use. I recognize the host of problems that come with binge-drinking; those concerns, however, are not the focus of this piece.

It is true that some sorority members drink alcohol in their rooms or at their events anyway. The official policies, however, do not recognize female autonomy and they create double standards. Sororities should quit imposing paternalistic and patronizing policies. A sorority sister is no less responsible or respectable, if she chooses to have a drink with dinner.

Chantel George is a fourth-year student at Woodsworth College studying neuroscience and physiology.

For many students, the consumption of alcohol is a central component of recreation and relaxation. There is a distinct culture tied to university drinking — the red solo cup and drinking games like beer pong are intimately linked to generic images of college life. Alcohol culture, however, manifests at different college residences in a variety of ways.  Despite having an extensive alcohol policy related to the promotion and sale of alcohol at university sanctioned events, the University of Toronto has no overarching policy on the possession and consumption of alcohol in residence buildings.

New College, the second-largest college on the St. George Campus, and home to approximately 880 resident undergraduates, has strict policies on alcohol. The college lists misuse of alcohol as a major offence, alongside acts such as “inappropriate disposal of human bodily waste” and “causing damage to or stealing residence property.” The residence agreement to which all New College residents must consent, lists underage drinking, serving alcohol to underage students possession of funnels or other drinking paraphernalia, and drinking games, as behaviours that are prohibited. 

New College also cracks down on party culture, which is not exclusive to alcohol. It is considered a minor offence to have a party, defined as: “any combination of two of the following three criteria: i) five or more individuals in one room ii) the presence of alcohol iii) significant noise.” New College takes the strictest stance on alcohol of all the colleges, stifling not only recreational alcohol consumption, but also that of socialization in residence as a whole.

The Residence Life Office at New College did not respond to The Varsity’s request for comment.

Trinity College’s drinking culture stands in stark contrast to that of New College. The college can apply for a permit that allows them to hold events serving alcohol in a cordoned-off area. Upon acceptance to Trinity, all first-year students wishing to go to events at which alcohol is served are required to attend an alcohol education seminar, held during Orientation Week. The Office of the Dean of Students keeps track of which students have attended the session in order to admit them to events throughout the year.

Adil Abdulla, chair of the Trinity College Meeting (TCM), expressed concern with the enforcement of the college’s alcohol policy. “People are meant to check for ID when they sell those [drink] tickets… I don’t really think anybody checks,”  he said. “There some events where everybody gets alcohol, there are no checks for it whatsoever, and it is totally free.”

Abdulla also revealed that the TCM can access about $160,000 of the college’s residence fees, $22,000 of which is projected to be used on alcohol for licensed college, this year. This spending implicitly incorporates the provision of alcohol into the college’s mandate, making alcoholic events central and prevalent. There is an inconsistency in the willingness of the college’s administration to intervene in student life and private spaces.

Victoria University has regulations that govern students’ private property as a form of alcohol policy, stipulating in its residence handbook that residents may “not have, obtain, or make a fake ID — if [they] have one it can be confiscated and legal action may be taken.” Melinda Scott, dean of students at University College, indicated in an interview with The Varsity that the college does not take a punitive stance on alcohol. “It is not our practice for residence staff to conduct random checks of student rooms,” Scott said, adding, “[we] also know that there are some who will choose to consume alcohol regardless of their age. For this reason, we try to balance sanctions for underage drinking with education about the responsible use of alcohol.”

Woodsworth College, the largest college at U of T, takes a similar approach to UC. “Generally we take an educational approach, encouraging our residents to make responsible choices should they choose to consume alcohol, while noting that it is not a requisite part of attending university,” said Steve Masse, assistant to the dean for residence life. Like all colleges, the consumption of alcohol is not permitted in public areas, which include hallways and common rooms.

“[When] a resident is found to be in violation of some part of our alcohol policy, they are assigned an educational sanction that encourages reflection and healthier behaviour in the future. This approach typically proves quite successful at altering problematic behaviours,” said Masse.

The expression of alcohol culture varies widely across the residences at U of T’s colleges. The reasons for the inconsistency between alcohol policies at different colleges remain unclear. It is clear that the experience of those in residence is shaped greatly by the subtleties in alcohol policies that govern that culture.