Alcohol Ban Lifted At Harrington Hall

 

St. Thomas University’s Harrington Hall dormitory is no longer dry. A liquor ban imposed in the building in December has been lifted. New regulations have been put in place to control disorderly drinking. Students are both pleased with the ban, and its removal. Tony Peter-Paul has the story.

Harrington Hall is known as the notorious party residence at St. Thomas University. After six weeks of being prohibited from having alcohol in the dorm, students brought a new proposal to the table. The house committee met with the dean of students on Friday to discuss the ban. Caitlin Doiron, the house president recommended four new stipulations, if the ban was to be lifted.

“No more drinking in the lounges, guests have to leave at moderate quite hours opposed to normal quite hours which is ten on weekdays and 12 on weekends. No more open liquor in the hallways. If you have a can or bottle, it has to be closed. You can transport it from room to room, but once it’s opened, it can’t leave, or you have to leave the drink and come back for it. And guests who are unescorted are going to be asked to leave.”

The ban was first put in place after several reported incidents of fire extinguishers being tampered with, broken glass bottles on the floors, and bathrooms being vandalized.

“I think it was a good thing. All-in-all it was really good. It cleaned up the place a lot. I feel as though the residence will be more respectful and the place will be cleaner now that they know that they can lose such a privilege. I was all for it. It happened right before exams too, there is no better time. You shouldn’t be drinking two weeks before exams anyways. And it got lifted pretty much as soon as we got back.”

“I thought the ban was a good idea because it kind of taught the house we need to pull up our game and learn some respect. And I think the house learned their lesson and I think we deserve the freedom to be able to drink again.”

Since the ban, there have been only two reported incidents of alcohol on the premises. Now that the ban is lifted, Harrington residents can enjoy a drink while keeping in mind the consequences of  disrespectful behavior. For STU Journalism, I’m Tony Peter-Paul.