Author: Ben DeLuca
Occidental administrators are working to limit the damage after local news sources widely reported on eight alcohol-related hospitalizations during the Splatter dance on Saturday, Oct. 23. The reports, which depicted Splatter as a school-sponsored “rave,” could put the college’s standing in jeopardy.
“I think [the coverage] may affect admissions, it will probably affect donations,” Occidental College President Jonathan Veitch said.
Though Veitch was unhappy with the coverage, he was also disappointed with students who chose to abuse alcohol.
“I hope the [student] response is embarrassment because you bring shame on the institution when you’re seen on the six o’clock news in that kind of state,” Veitch said.
Campus Safety and administration officials shut Splatter down almost an hour early due to the situation. Campus Safety estimated that 800 people attended the event and 75 percent had alcohol on their breath when they entered. A men’s soccer recruit was one of the eight total hospitalizations, with the others being under aged students.
“I’m disappointed and I think those students need to reflect seriously on, most importantly, the fate of their friends, and the humiliation that they brought on the institution,” Veitch said.
Other administrators expressed similar dissatisfaction with students’ behavior at the event.
“I’m mad that the actions of a few have now impacted this entire community,” Assistant Dean of Students Tamara Rice said.
Many students agreed that the event was embarrassing, but that it does not reflect on the institution as a whole.
“I also agree that it’s embarrassing to the institution, but I don’t think we should let eight people’s actions hurt our reputation,” Kristen Treat (sophomore) said. “It’s unfair to blame all of us.”
The administration agrees that the problem does not involve the entire student body.
“I don’t think it’s a campus-wide problem, I think it’s localized into a subset of students that either lack maturity or don’t understand their own limits or don’t intervene when students make stupid decisions,” Veitch said.
The administration has been moving quickly to set up a framework for investigating the causes of the incidents at Splatter and recommending solutions.
“We have developed this ad hoc task force, and that includes Programming Board, Alpha [Lambda Phi Alpha], RAs, me and Devon MacIver (from OSL) and Tim Chang and Juls White (from REHS) to look at our large-scale student events and coming up with recommendations for how to manage them. We would like to present our recommendations to a General Assembly,” Rice said.
Multiple sources in the administration maintained that while education and discipline play a role, the most viable option to control alcohol consumption and keep students safe is self-policing.
“Of all the things that have been suggested, self-policing is likely to be the most effective tool if students embrace it,” Veitch said.
Juls White commented on the challenges facing the administration.
“Obviously I can’t prevent anything, but how I can help educate students what to do prior to dances and before that is important,” White said.
Director of Communications Jim Tranquada agreed.
“This is not an issue that applies just to Occidental. Binge drinking is an issue on most college campuses. It’s not an issue that lends itself to easy solutions,” Tranquada said.
Alcohol Policy Discussion
Possible changes to college procedures have been floating around since Splatter, specifically changes to the school’s zero-tolerance policy, but President Veitch has reservations about at least one of the ideas.
“One that blows my mind is the idea that the zero-tolerance policy is responsible for [the hospitalizations],” Veitch said.
Veitch is referring to several students who have claimed that the alcohol policy is too restrictive and encourages unsupervised binge drinking in the dorms.
The students say that the college should be more open to discussing alcohol issues with students and working with them instead of looking to discipline them.
“It’s not wrong for the administration to play a role, but by banning alcohol they’re just sticking the problem in a corner and trying to pretend that it’s not their problem,” Alexa Olson (sophomore) said.
But administration officials assert that they are obligated to enforce the alcohol policy.
“The college is required to certify with the Department of Education that it is enforcing existing drug and alcohol laws,” Tranquada said.
“If Occidental does not certify or attempt to enforce existing laws then that puts federal student aid in jeopardy. At Occidental, that’s about $12 million. About half the student body gets federal financial aid.”
Some students’ main concern though is what they see as aggressive and adversarial enforcement that could be done differently. But the administration finds the enforcement necessary.
“If we have a zero-tolerance policy and it’s not working, then what more can one do short of ratcheting up the consequences on the students that are involved?” Veitch said.
Assistant Dean of Residential Education Tim Chang posted a comment online stating that having a discussion on alcohol policy enforcement would not be helpful.
“It is clear that students feel that enforcing the College’s alcohol policy causes students to binge drink. Some would counter that not enforcing the policy might lead to more people drinking more often. Unfortunately a debate on this is pointless as we have to maintain and enforce an alcohol policy that follows the law,” an “Oxy Housing” Facebook post read.
Tranquada also said that the administration has tried to engage students, but with little success.
“You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, and if people don’t care and aren’t interested in being part of the conversation, then… We make stuff available online, we talk to the Weekly, we send out emails which most students don’t read because most students don’t check email,” Tranquada said.
Tranquada wants students to take the initiative to fix this problem.
“I hope the students won’t just sit back and wait for the administration, I’d hope that they actually step up,” Tranquada said.
ResEd’s Amy Winehouse Post
Last Wednesday, a heated discussion occurred on the Oxy Housing Facebook page after Chang posted a link to an article stating that Amy Winehouse’s death was due to alcohol poisoning. A caption accompanied the link, reading “You can drink yourself to death.”
The post led to outrage among students, many of whom considered it condescending.
“Can we dwell for a moment on the fact that ResEd just used the death of a human being as a way to make a condescending and largely unnecessary point?” Gabriel Mathews (junior) said.
Chang offered his apologies to anyone who found the post belittling, but was also disconcerted by some of the responses.
“I’m maybe a little surprised about the comments,” Chang said in an interview.
“I’m surprised that there’s a lot of deflection in the comments and not reflection about the seriousness of the problem and what students can do to solve it.”
But, the discus
sion on ResEd’s page turned constructive, with students and alumni proposing possible solutions to the issue. Jacquie Adorni ‘11, created a list of six suggestions that 14 people “liked.”
“2) Take the power to write students up for alcohol violations away from RAs. This creates an atmosphere of greater trust between students and RAs, and means that students will be less likely to hide drinking from RAs, thus allowing RAs to intervene/contact pro staff if they believe that students are dangerously intoxicated,” Adorni wrote.
Other students proposed additional solutions, including an increased number of on-campus events. ResEd later said that they appreciated the suggestions and would take them into consideration.
Discipline for Hospitalized Students
The students hospitalized for alcohol-related medical issues were all underage and will have a meeting with a member of the Dean of Students’ Office, according to Director of Student Advocacy and Accountability Emily Harris.
Dean of Students Barbara Avery said that she is not involved with the conduct process for the students so she can stay neutral in the event of an appeal. However, she did say that there is a possibility that the students hospitalized may not be exempt from the conduct process through the amnesty policy, which includes provisions regarding how a student who needs medical attention brings their situation to the attention of the College. According to the policy, only students who call for help themselves, or have a friend call for them, qualify for amnesty.
“If they were found by campus safety or an RA, it may not apply. I don’t know who ran across them, or if a friend helped them, I have no idea,” Dean Avery said.
One person hospitalized was a prospective student visiting the men’s soccer team. That prospective student’s host will likely not qualify for amnesty. Harris explained that prospective students are considered guests under the college’s guest policy, meaning this student’s host was responsible for his behavior and safety.
“When rules are broken, there are consequences,” men’s soccer coach Rod Lafaurie said. “Rules were broken, and there will be and have already been consequences.”
Media Attention and Its Effect
The media coverage of the Splatter hospitalizations, likely sparked by Los Angeles Fire Department radio traffic monitored by freelancers, lasted for days after the incident.
Newsreel, an independent video firm shot the video of the incident and sold the footage to KTLA and other networks.
Contrary to statements made in the media coverage, Tranquada and Rice verified that Splatter was not a rave, and others within the administration acknowledged that the college was portrayed inaccurately.
“We were portrayed unfairly in that the coverage suggests we have more of a problem with this than other institutions,” Veitch said.
The local ABC affiliate, who deemed Splatter a “rave-style campus party,” declined to comment on the criticism of their coverage.
Rice also noted a possible complication with donations that could result from the media coverage.
“Trustees have been calling the offices, and foundations…We’re trying to do JSC renovations, and Rose Hills Foundation could be saying ‘Wait a minute, we’re going to give you money for this renovation but what kind of students do guys you have here?'” she said.
Administrators report that the Halloween concert featuring A-Trak on Monday went relatively smoothly. A fire marshal was present, along with two Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) hired by the college to run a first aid station.
Rice reported that one EMT observed a female student in need of medical attention while on patrol at the event. The EMT treated the student at the tent with the help of Occidental staff before asking the fire marshal to contact paramedics. The fire marshal contacted the fire department directly, without placing a 9-1-1 call. An ambulance responded and began transporting the student to the hospital before the student refused treatment and was dropped back off at the college, according to Rice. It does not appear that any outside media reported on the incident.
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