After Student’s Death, Campus Tries to Dry Up

Just beyond the stately brick buildings and the graceful elm trees at the University of Oklahoma, the boys were draining a bottle of liquor called “Hot Damn” -- and more. At the Sigma Chi fraternity house, the night wasn’t much different than many others, until Blake Hammontree died.

Hammontree, 19, was found the morning of Sept. 30 with a blood-alcohol level of 0.42, suggesting, investigators said, that he had consumed more than 15 shots within two hours. It was the third alcohol-related death nationwide at a college fraternity house that month, and here in Norman, the hammer came down. University President David L. Boren called underage drinking a “national epidemic” and handed down a strict alcohol policy.

In a 15-point plan announced Dec. 1 and approved five days later by the university’s Board of Regents, Boren banned alcohol in residence halls and fraternity houses. Some campus-affiliated organizations will be allowed to serve drinks, but only on weekends.

Boren issued restrictions on fraternity “rush” events, functions at which new members are recruited, and on hazing by campus organizations, which often comes in the form of excessive drinking. He instituted a “three-strikes” policy under which students who violated alcohol rules three times would be suspended for at least one semester. Parents would be notified of all violations.

The move, however, has led to debate and criticism, not among students who are determined to party, but among community leaders who say the policy will fail -- and could make things worse. Most believe it was written with good intentions, but they question whether the policy would only drive parties off campus, away from Greek Row and into Norman’s quiet neighborhoods.

“What’s been done, by itself, won’t be the answer,” said Cindy Rosenthal, a professor of political science and public administration at the university and member of the Norman City Council. “There are a number of neighborhoods that feel under siege.”

Boren, a former governor and U.S. senator who has been the university’s president since 1994, said the policy included provisions to protect residential neighborhoods.

“I think it’s a mistaken concern,” he said. “Nothing is going to be perfect.”

The policy is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 18, when the spring semester begins.

“These policies are not meant to be punitive or negative,” Boren said in a statement prepared for the university community and posted on the school’s website. “They are issued for the benefit and safety of our students. I hope that I will never again have the sad duty to discuss the tragic loss of a son or daughter due to alcohol abuse with grieving parents and family members.”

Among the concerns cited by campus and community leaders are the town’s ballooning number of “party houses” -- rented by students and devoted largely to boisterous and alcohol-fueled social gatherings.

City officials have noted that they do not have enough resources to police off-campus parties. With the new policy, said Kyle Eastwood, 19, who is a sophomore majoring in political science and a member of the Student Congress, the number of off-campus parties and “party houses” will explode -- making campus leaders yearn for the days when most students walked a few blocks from their dorms to party on The Row. Eastwood said he feared that many students who went to off-campus parties would drive home drunk.

“Right now, we have a centralized problem,” said Eastwood, also the vice chairman of a student committee on alcohol use. “The problem is underage drinking and consumption. But it is on campus, and we know where it is. Now you begin to diffuse the problem across the city of Norman.”

Some say the policy winds up looking naive.

Rosenthal frequently walks to work past sorority houses that are, at least in theory, already “dry” under existing university rules.

“I walk by on a Monday morning, and Dumpsters are overflowing with empty alcohol containers,” she said. “Just saying ‘no alcohol on campus’ and then assuming students are going to stop drinking, and then threatening them with expulsion, is not going to work.”

Boren, however, said steps were being taken to curb the potential effect of the policy. The university will work with the city to crack down on “party houses,” largely by targeting owners as well as tenants, he said. Alcohol violations will be treated with the same severity whether they occur on campus or off. And a new program will offer students free rides home in buses or vans.

“I would be foolish to think that we are going to stop all rites of passage, that we are going to stop any use of alcohol by people who are underage,” Boren said. “What we are really trying to do is something more limited and attainable. If we can reduce binge drinking that can lead to alcohol poisoning ... then the policy is worth it.”