As we come down from National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, now would be an ideal occasion to evaluate the University’s role in implementing its stated alcohol policy — both with regard to preventing underage drinking on campus and facilitating an environment in which drinking is not seen as the only recreational option for students on weekend nights. Yet while at the beginning of last year University President James W. Wagner declined to sign on to the Amethyst Initiative, a petition that gained national attention as it called for the lowering of the drinking age, and instead called for a renewed and reinvigorated campuswide discourse and approach to the issue, the University seems to be falling short with regard to many of the key policy implementations its approach requires. While the University appears to be dedicated to the cause on surface value — for example, it revised the blackout policy to extend past fall break this year — it still does not seem to have taken an active enough role in promoting a safer environment for as many of the students as possible.

As discussed previously, we still believe that the administration erred in the remodeling of the blackout policy. The blackout policy, although it has admirable goals, in general does not alleviate the issue of underage drinking — freshmen can still find ways to obtain alcohol, and these situations are often more dangerous because they are away at other college campuses or elsewhere in Atlanta, where they not only are outside of University jurisdiction but also are further removed from the very accessible Emory University Hospital.

Additionally, the blackout policy holds the fraternities themselves responsible for keeping freshmen sober and out of fraternities houses, effectively deflecting responsibility for underage drinking away from the University and forcing the fraternities into ever-more awkward positions, as they struggle to administer policies that are expensive and comprehensive with limited resources.

It seems indisputable that one of the biggest reasons underage students choose to drink is simply because there are few alternatives during weekend nights. Unfortunately, the Emory campus seems to shut down at nightfall. There are few recreational options; there are even fewer late-night dining options. And while these are understandable circumstances (staffing dining centers and buildings for more hours would cost a considerable amount of money), there still needs to be a conversation about how to remedy the situation.

Organizing regular on-campus events and ensuring that some campus facilities remain open until late at night would go a tremendous way toward limiting the need for students to find late-night, weekend fun at a fraternity house or Atlanta nightspot. The University and its departments could sponsor late-night tournaments in the Woodruff P.E. Center or buy the rights to show movies regularly in White Hall to encourage students to choose sober activities on campus. The University has the resources to offering an array of late-night activities to freshmen, as well as other students, who are seeking a sober alternative.

Aside from developing a lively late-night environment on campus, the University could also guide students toward choosing sober alternatives by facilitating transportation to off-campus destinations. Shuttles to Lenox Mall and Atlantic Station often stop running around nightfall, even though Atlantic Station remains bustling with activity well into the early hours of the morning. Improving the shuttle schedule, and perhaps adding stops to other locations such as bowling alleys, would provide students with an array of options, should they seek a sober activity for any given night.

Recently, the University seems to have taken a backseat in preventing underage drinking on campus — the burden of preventing freshman drinking rests heavily upon the shoulders of fraternities themselves, and similarly, the obligation to organize sober alternatives rests heavily upon Residence Life staff. If the University is truly committed to preventing underage drinking, it must actively engage in preparing an environment conducive to a sober lifestyle for its students. We’re not asking the administration to “babysit” students, but they still have a crucial, front-and-center role to play in the process
These are by no means all of the measures the University could take to develop a campus that caters more toward students who wish to remain sober on weekend nights; however, it’s ultimately the responsibility of the University to actively seek and implement ideas for sober alternatives. We hope that with the upcoming Alcohol Awareness Week, the University will again renew its dedication to preventing underage drinking on campus by facilitating an effective discourse on alcohol awareness as well as striving to explore new options.

The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s editorial board.