The Ad Hoc Committee to Review Social Events Policy and Procedure will present a nearly 20-page recommendation today to Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services David Greene.
Administrators told The Herald several weeks ago that the committee would produce a public report by Feb. 27, but it was still being revised yesterday and had only been released internally.
Among the issues tackled by the report are the creation of adequate space for social gatherings on campus, the availability of metal detectors for student groups, a revision of policy concerning alcohol served at events, the regulation of advertising for events and the training and hiring of staff to monitor events on campus.
Greene said he plans to permit student groups and administrators to read the report and allow ample time for a campus-wide discussion on its "quality and feasibility" before any of the recommendations are implemented.
He added that some of the recommendations would likely be implemented quickly, while others, such as the addition of larger spaces for social gatherings on campus, are likely to take longer.
The committee, created in the aftermath of Queer Alliance's Sex Power God party Nov. 12 and a melee on the Main Green the preceding evening that ended with shots fired, was charged with examining how "social functions are approved, promoted, managed and staffed," with particular emphasis on student safety, according to the Web site of the Office of Campus Life and Student Services.
One of the committee's main concerns is creating space for large on-campus social events and smaller impromptu gatherings.
Events held in Sayles and Alumnae halls, historically havens for large social events, have been identified as problematic, Greene said.
Margaret Klawunn, associate vice president for campus life, dean for student life and the committee's chair, said the recommendations "tighten polices and procedures that are already in place," and no one recommendation is likely to have an overwhelming effect on Brown's social scene.
"We felt that there was some additional improvements we could make in current polices but we did not feel an overhaul of the system was in place," she said.
Committee member Zachary Townsend '08, vice president of the Undergraduate Council of Students, said he believes that because the committee has been pressed for time, elaborate recommendations were not drawn up.
He also said because of the high number of students on the committee - seven of the 17 members are undergraduate or graduate students - many of the more stringent policies proposed by administrators will not be among its recommendations.
Townsend said one of his concerns with the report is the costly nature of many of its recommendations. These are particularly troubling because the Student Activities Fund is already undergoing financial stress, he said.
Greene, however, said depending on the recommendations implemented, it is likely the University will help student groups financially.
"We may have to create an additional fund to staff these events if we do move to a different system where there are professional staff working at events. I know student groups are already pressed for resources. We need to find a way for them to continue to operate without overburdening them with expenses," he said.
Interim social events policies regarding event admission, advertising and safety and alcohol guidelines instituted in November are likely to become permanent, Klawunn said
"The committee is recommending that those be adopted," she said.
Conducting a review of campus alcohol and drug culture was not charged to the committee and is therefore not addressed specifically in the report.
"(The report) is not trying to review or evaluate alcohol policy, though we certainly talked about alcohol use," Klawunn said. She added the committee is "not making a recommendation on (drug) policy." Instead, it is looking at how social groups and events can handle alcohol use in better ways.
The Campus Life Advisory Board Subcommittee on Alcohol and Other Drugs was given the task of reviewing policies regarding alcohol and other drugs and expects to have a report out by the end of the semester.
