Continuity of '40s on 40' in Question

The annual “40s on 40,” a senior event celebrating 40 days until graduation, will be much drier this year, as the administration is attempting to put an end to the hard-drinking celebration previously held on Low Steps.

After weeks of administrative and student conversation about the tradition, Kevin Shollenberger, Dean of Student Affairs for Columbia College and the School of Engineering and Applied Science, clarified the decision to overhaul 40s on 40 in a statement to Spectator Wednesday night.

40s on 40, which has involved a heavy amount of drinking, will be replaced by a barbeque—albeit one with beer—the administration affirmed this week.

“We told the students that we can no longer support the 40 Days event in its current format because we believe that the format of the event is inconsistent with our commitment to community responsibility and providing positive outlets for student expression,” Shollenberger, who is also the Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Student Life, wrote.

Since its launch six years ago, 40s on 40 has “been problematic because its primary focus on alcohol has contributed to binge drinking and general disregard for community civility,” Shollenberger said.

Members from the four councils have been in discussions with one another about the changes, and all of the councils will be participating in the plans, said Sarah Besnoff, BC ’09 and Student Government Association President.

“Students feel strongly that there is a need for a four-school senior event that celebrates ... graduation, in addition to senior week,” Besnoff said.
“We’ve all been working together to try and find some sort of solution,” Peter Valeiras, SEAS ’09 and Engineering Student Council President, affirmed, adding that all councils have been meeting with administrators.

Some students, though, view the cancellation of 40s on 40 as part of a larger issue on campus—student claims of ambiguous wording and a somewhat confusing system for the University’s alcohol policy. Adil Ahmed, CC ’09 and Columbia College Student Council Vice President of Policy, said in a recent CCSC meeting that he had seen students having difficulties defining the rules for alcohol and for parties.

Council members recalled students reporting confusion with rules they didn’t realize existed—for instance, those that forbid parties from being held in common suite areas.

Valeiras said he thought that the administration and deans have had some difficulties in the past with events like 40s on 40, and that other students he had spoken to saw it less as a “war on fun” than a plan to make all students, including those who might be turned off by the alcohol-soaked tradition, feel welcome and comfortable in one of the final school events.

He said he couldn’t speak to whether this was an increased crackdown on campus alcohol consumption, an idea that some CCSC members threw out in a Sunday meeting, but he thought that the change was more about student inclusion than increased regulations from administrators. “They [the administration] just want to make it friendly to everyone,” Valeiras said.

“We agree with the student leaders who have expressed so strongly the need for their final semester to include programs that allow seniors an opportunity to celebrate their final days as students,” the e-mail read. The deans added that they had been working closely with student leaders to develop alternative programming for seniors.

George Krebs, CC ’09 and CCSC President, said he personally hadn’t seen overwhelming student enthusiasm for the new plans, underlining his feelings that 40s was an important senior event that had been “co-opted by the administration and subjected to administrative rules and regulations.” Krebs said he viewed the change as part of a tightening of restrictions over the past few years, and agreed with Ahmed that the alcohol policy for the undergraduate institutions might benefit from being clarified for confused students.

Brody Berg, General Studies Student Council President, declined to comment on GSSC involvement in the 40s on 40 changes.

Mark Johnson, CC ’09 and CCSC Senior Class President, and Kim Manis, SEAS ’09 and ESC Senior Class President, also declined to comment, as the details of the event had yet to be hammered out with students and the administration.

“We look forward to continued dialogue with our student leaders and a safe and enjoyable final semester for our graduating students,” the administrative statement concluded.

Kim Kirschenbaum, Joy Resmovits, and Carly Silver contributed reporting to this article.

Alix Pianin can be reached at alix.pianin@columbiaspectator.com

Appended: Sarah Besnoff was misheard as calling '40s on 40 a "forceful" event. Rather, she called it a "four-school" event.