New Rule -- NO ALCOHOL

[exlurker]

While I agree that the new policy seems both broad and confusing, I'm not as sure as some other GCers are that it's entirely the product of the Greek life office at Washington U. A policy like this at a school where about 1/4 of the undergrads are Greek is rather likely to have been reviewed and either formally or informally approved by people considerably higher up in the university's administration, in my opinion. Given the recently-publicized fracas on the Row where a couple of security guards were injured (mildly) and last academic year's brouhaha about drinking / possible hazing at one of the fraternities, I wonder whether Washington U is trying to stave off the possibility of further alcohol-related negative publicity.

I think it's a real possibility; WU has put a lot of effort and money into successfully raising its general profile and academic reputation in the last several years. (Just see the three-page article entitled "A Hidden Gem No More" in the 2005 edition of U.S. News & World Report's America's Best Colleges.) It seems to me that Washington U has zip zero nada interest in being known even remotely as a U of Colorado-style party school. I think it wants to maintain -- and probably increase -- its reputation as at least a peer of Columbia, Northwestern, and the like.
And while some people might wonder whether "alumni giving" could be used as a lever in dealing with WU and the alcohol policy, we may need to remember that with its existing three and a half billion dollar endowment, it would take a whale of a lot to affect the university seriously, I think.

Edited to add: The Oct. 20 St. Louis Post-Dispatch story on the ban quoted, among others, the vice chancellor for students at Washington U. It seemed pretty clear to me from that article that the new policy was okayed considerably higher up than just the Greek life office.