[Goose]

I attended in the Stone Age, and I don't know the history of alcohol bans on campus in recent years.  That said, Stanford's website provides a complicated set of rules regarding alcohol that sounds not at all like a total ban:  https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/camp...%20Weekend.  Regardless of the written rule, however, enforcement is the key.  If students knew that a second violation of the university alcohol policy meant mandatory in patient rehab on their own dime during a university imposed leave, they'd be less likely to drink.

I too attended in the stone age. The students were energetically resisting the in loco parentis concept. Getting rid of sign-in/out for females was one small step. Under-age drinking was not a major issue for the University as it definitely is today. Our RAs in Cedro would very occasionally fill a tub with ice and put beer in it. It was left in the lounge. Obviously we we all under-age, except the RAs themselves :-). Nobody got drunk (not really enough beer to do so). In subsequent years dorm parties always featured as much as you wanted to drink. Nobody was worried about who was 21 or not. It wasn't unknown for people to get drunk. In only one case that I recall did we end up taking anybody to Cowell. He weighed all of about 135 lbs and hadn't realized that keeping up with larger people was a very bad idea.

The RAs every year basically said they trusted us, that we should take care of each other if necessary and above all don't get them (the RAs) in trouble. That seemed to work well. It was undoubtedly a simpler time, but I am pretty certain the current situation is not an improvement. The University is IMO more concerned with their potential liability than they are with student welfare. That leads to a legalistic approach that may or may not actually help students "grow up" and take responsibility for their own lives. Different times I guess.

[Goose]

I attended in the Stone Age, and I don't know the history of alcohol bans on campus in recent years.  That said, Stanford's website provides a complicated set of rules regarding alcohol that sounds not at all like a total ban:  https://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/camp...%20Weekend.  Regardless of the written rule, however, enforcement is the key.  If students knew that a second violation of the university alcohol policy meant mandatory in patient rehab on their own dime during a university imposed leave, they'd be less likely to drink.

I too attended in the stone age. The students were energetically resisting the in loco parentis concept. Getting rid of sign-in/out for females was one small step. Under-age drinking was not a major issue for the University as it definitely is today. Our RAs in Cedro would very occasionally fill a tub with ice and put beer in it. It was left in the lounge. Obviously we we all under-age, except the RAs themselves :-). Nobody got drunk (not really enough beer to do so). In subsequent years dorm parties always featured as much as you wanted to drink. Nobody was worried about who was 21 or not. It wasn't unknown for people to get drunk. In only one case that I recall did we end up taking anybody to Cowell. He weighed all of about 135 lbs and hadn't realized that keeping up with larger people was a very bad idea.

The RAs every year basically said they trusted us, that we should take care of each other if necessary and above all don't get them (the RAs) in trouble. That seemed to work well. It was undoubtedly a simpler time, but I am pretty certain the current situation is not an improvement. The University is IMO more concerned with their potential liability than they are with student welfare. That leads to a legalistic approach that may or may not actually help students "grow up" and take responsibility for their own lives. Different times I guess.