Interim President Borofsky Bans Alcohol from Student-Faculty Events

Last updated on 2012.05.19

I may have a fellow teetotaler in Madison! The following message made its way around the offices at Dakota State University week before last indicating that new interim president Daivd Borofsky takes a harder line against alcohol than the Board of Regents policy manual:

It's that time of year when the faculty and/or the colleges plan end-of-the-year events for their students. When I visited with the president this morning, he asked me to emphasize that NO alcohol is to be served at student-faculty or student-college events, even though the students may be older and legally able to drink. He indicated that he has a zero-tolerance policy on serving alcohol to students, so please pass that information along to faculty [e-mail from administration to staff, Dakota State University, 2012.04.25].

Written DSU policy follows Board of Regents policy, which allows (4.27-E) alcohol at social functions hosted by official campus organizations, as long the hosts adhere to the following guidelines:

1. If the function includes the sale of alcoholic beverages, appropriate permits must be obtained.
2. The organization sponsoring the event should implement precautionary measures to ensure that alcoholic beverages are not accessible or served to persons under the legal drinking age or to persons who appear intoxicated.
3. Persons of legal age must be designated as servers. They must be trained to monitor alcohol consumption, and they alone may have direct access to alcoholic beverages.
4. Attractive nonalcoholic beverages must be equally available and on display.
5. The consumption of alcoholic beverages must be limited to the area designated for
   the event.
6. A reasonable portion of the budget for the event must be designated for the purchase of food items, and food must be available throughout the event. Officially recognized student organizations remain subject to the additional restrictions set forth in section 3.4 which prohibits expenditure of organizational funds for alcoholic beverages.
7. Alcohol service must be discontinued well before the event is expected to end.
8. Alcohol use should never be the primary focus of the event. Drinking contests and other activities that encourage consumption of alcohol are strictly prohibited.
9. Advertising may not mention the availability of alcohol in a prominent way, nor may advertising mention the amount of alcoholic beverages available. If mention is made, equal attention must be given to the availability of nonalcoholic beverages.
10. Officially recognized organizations will have the responsibility to provide those persons conducting the event with copies of these regulations. They will also be responsible for implementing these regulations.
11. Officially recognized organizations must agree to abide by the foregoing regulations as a condition of continued recognition.

Now I'm perfectly happy to have a totally dry campus. But I'll be curious to learn the interim president's motivation for going beyond Regental policy to ensure that DSU serves alcohol to absolutely no students, even those of legal drinking age.

And recall, Dr. Borofsky is the same administrator who wrote in a blog post at his last gig, " Even so-called 'party schools' land their graduates starting salaries of around $46,000, proving you can have your beer and drink it, too."