There is an oft-heard complaint after a party gets broken up.
“It’s impossible to have fun here,” Jules Colangelo, BC ’12, said.
According to the resident adviser who ended Colangelo’s party before it had even begun, the number of people filling her Barnard suite exceeded the limit. “Everyone was forced to leave,” Colangelo said. “We weren’t even doing anything wrong.”
Many students say that Barnard’s “War on Fun” has been brewing for years. They say that increased enforcement of rules and slight changes in policy have made it harder than ever to have fun on campus.
Hilary Colenso, director of the Alcohol and Substance Awareness Program at Barnard, explained that the school’s policies for alcohol and drugs have remained the same over the past few years, though they are re-evaluated every two years. What has changed is the enforcement, she said.
Over the past three years, the number of student citations has increased. In the 2007 and 2008 school years, the numbers of citations for alcohol or drug violations was 36—but in 2009, that number rose to 51.
The reason is not likely more drinking and drug use by Barnard students, but an emphasis on making RAs, public safety officials, security personnel, and administrators more cautious in restricting behaviors that violate policies, Colenso explained.
That number continues to rise. Just this semester, 31 students have been reported for various violations, including 11 for going to the emergency room. Last year, 21 were cited for these violations, and only 17 the year before.
Still, this number is relatively small compared to other schools—comprising less than one percent of the student body. The percentage of students at Barnard who report having more than five drinks on a night out is less than 20 percent.
Colenso said those statistics reinforce the perception that “Barnard is not much of a party school.”
But students say that this reputation is instilled through practice, as the school cultivates a climate where it is difficult to have fun.
“This would have never happened in a Columbia dorm,” said Vanessa Trinidad, who attended Colangelo’s party last weekend.
“I have been at parties where there have been much worse offenses than too many people, and nothing has happened,” she added.
Grace Royer, BC ’11, said that compared to the rules at other schools, “Barnard’s are extremely harsh,” adding that “everything is a problem, from having a guest, to how many people you have in your room, to how loud you are.”
Royer said Barnard wasn’t always a place where parties go to die. During her sophomore year, she thought Barnard was really lax about social gatherings.
“My friend used to throw parties almost every weekend, where I’m sure there were too many people. But our RA was really relaxed so it didn’t matter,” she said.
But she said that in just a year, things have changed.
“Within the first month, my suite and I were written up for noise complaints and other non-important violations,” Royer said. “It’s ridiculous. If we’re smart enough to get in here, they should trust that we are smart enough not to partake in behavior that is extremely dangerous.”
Kara Freewind, BC ’11, said that Columbia and Barnard express a mutual desire to foster a sense of community, but enforce rules that make that virtually impossible. One major fun-inhibitor, Freewind said, is the fact that Barnard and Columbia students must sign each other in to dorms.
“How can we possibly truly form bonds when we are prohibited from each other’s living spaces?” she asked.
Dasha Jensen, BC ’11, said that Columbia parties are a lot more lax, which is why she thinks few people choose to party on Barnard’s campus. “The rules for signing in are the same, but the security attendants are a lot more lax about it, making it much easier for stuff to go on over at Columbia,” she said.
At Barnard suites—like the ones in Plimpton residence hall—students are limited to two guests per person, while in dorms at Columbia—like East Campus—students are allowed five guests per person.
A 2004 study of college drinking by the Harvard School of Public Health found that the most drinking at Barnard occurs off campus—which seems to remain true today.
Danielle Capozzoli, BC ’12, explained that “It’s just easier to have fun off campus. It’s not worth the risk here.”
Schools across the country have similar rules when it comes to drugs and alcohol, but the means of enforcement vary, and the repercussions for drinking at Barnard tend to be lighter than those at other schools.
A violation for alcohol use—whether it be for alcohol use in the dorms, coming back to dorms intoxicated, or going to the hospital for alcohol—consist of a meeting with Colenso, a project of some sort—such as an essay or community service event, and a meeting with the hall director, according to Steven Tolman, associate director of housing at Barnard . If one is caught with a drug like marijuana, the repercussions are the same but include a $100 fine.
At bigger state schools like Texas Tech University, which is hailed for its partying, repercussions are much greater. Students are fined $50, they are put on disciplinary probation, and their parents are notified.
Lilly Chagrin, a third-floor Hewitt RA, explained that RAs are instructed to use their judgment when it comes to possible policy violations in the dorms, and every RA has a distinct method.
Although Colenso said that policies have been implemented more forcefully over the past few years, Chagrin explained that to her knowledge, RAs who had held the position in previous years were not instructed to become any harsher.
Yet it seems the policies do serve to protect students from out-of-control situations.
Tolman explained that the new guest policy at Barnard, which requires guests to stay with the Barnard student at all times, came from a number of incidents with guests violating college property.
“One student punched a window in,” Tolman said. When these damages occur, the Barnard student is required to pay, not the guest.
And while some students say that the new policy is irritating—particularly because their guests can no longer use the spare bedroom located on the eighth floor of Brooks Hall—Tolman said that feedback on the new rule has been generally positive.
“Students have said that they feel this change in the policy makes our residence halls more secure and makes them feel safer,” he explained.
In all of his years working at Barnard, Tolman said he has yet to hear a complaint about the strictness of the policies when it comes to alcohol, drugs, or housing in general.
Sara Snedeker, BC ’12 and Barnard Student Government Association member, added that in her two years at SGA no one has raised complaints about party policy.
Jensen explained that the rules in place at Barnard, while annoying to most students, are “completely legitimate. It’s their job to keep us safe.”
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