Four weekends since court summonses, no news from BPD
May 3, 2019
Four weeks after Brunswick Police Department (BPD) issued 13 court summonses to Bowdoin students in a single weekend, the five students who received summonses in Helmreich House have not been notified as to whether BPD is proceeding with the charges.
The student who served as the event’s alcohol host (A-host), a student over the age of 21, is being criminally charged for furnishing alcohol to minors. The event host (E-host), a student under 21, is being criminally charged with furnishing a place for minors to consume alcohol. Both students followed College protocol after the E-host called Security for a wellness check for a minor student, who was then hospitalized.
“Bowdoin has been really supportive through all of it. They said they have been working with BPD to see if they can figure it out,” said the E-host Kendra Clifton ’21.
Since the weekend of March 30, no Bowdoin students have received court summonses from BPD.
The court date for the E-host is set for May 21. If BPD decides to proceed with the charges, the decision is up to the district attorney’s office.
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The simple fact of the matter is, Bowdoin College policies don’t trump state law. BPD is not the enemy – they are a law enforcement agency enforcing the law. Given how long the A-Host/E-Host system has been in place, it’s rather surprising this issue has not come up previously. If you are going to furnish alcohol and provide a place for it to be consumed, you are responsible to ensuring only people of legal drinking age are consuming alcohol at that location and doing so responsibly – cut and dry. Yes it’s college, yes minors consume alcohol, yes Bowdoin authorizes scheduled events via a process. This is all well and good but at the end of the day, the law is the law and part of being an adult is accepting the responsibilities and consequences that go with hosting an event. Being a college student isn’t an excuse.