It has been over seven weeks since there has been an alcohol-related transport at the College—a streak that Tim Foster, dean of student affairs, has not witnessed in his entire 17-year tenure at Bowdoin.
Two months into the school year, there have been only seven reported transports. Three first years, two sophomores, a junior, and a senior have been transported thus far—four male and three female students.
According to the Office of Safety and Security, there were 13 transports in the first two months of 2010, and 12 in the first two months of 2011.
The last reported transport was on September 16 following Ladd House’s annual Epicuria party. The house was placed on social probation by the administration shortly thereafter for holding an unregistered pre-game where hard alcohol was present, and was banned from hosting registered events with alcohol until November 1.
In an email to the Orient, Foster claimed that the decline in transports is not due to any specific administrative change that took place post-Epicuria, but rather a change in student behavior.
“This is about students, and more specifically individual students, making good decisions in two ways,” wrote Foster. “They are making healthier choices themselves. Students are also stepping in when they are concerned about a fellow student…It’s great to hear about one student saying to another—‘You’re done.’”
Post-Epicuria, Security increased their presence at many registered events and began carrying out more thorough inspections than in the past.
“They haven’t come in [to any rooms], though they’ve done patrols walking through the second and third floors of Baxter, which is unusual because normally they just check the basement and the lobby and call it a night,” says Ujal Santchurn ’15, president of Baxter House. “We’ve definitely seen them peruse around a little bit more.”
However, according to Foster, this change in procedure is not unusual.
“After Epicuria, Security staff were more present on campus, but that was a short term measure,” wrote Foster. “Security continues to adjust its staffing based on the number of registered events and kegs on campus but that has always been the case.”
Ladd House resident Ryan Davis ’15 suggested that Foster’s August 26 email regarding increased disciplinary action for alcohol-related vandalism may have contributed to students’ good behavior.
“I think what’s keeping people from going out and going too crazy is the threat of punishment being too severe,” said Davis.
A school-wide email, sent by Dean Foster on October 21, lauded students for the transport-free stretch. Davis said this email seems to have had an effect on the College Houses, since no House wants to be responsible for that streak coming to an end.
Yet for Foster, these transport-free weeks still come down to students themselves.
Though there could be “a transport tonight or next weekend,” wrote Foster, “this stretch of good decision making and health is really impressive. Students get all the credit; it says a lot about students taking individual responsibility, looking out for one another, and holding one another accountable.”