AFS asks Trustees to reconsider on-campus drinking policy
By: Andy Stewart
Issue date: 9/25/09 Section: News
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The announcement was made before the nearly 300 students in attendance at Monday's AFS meeting, which was conducted in the style of a town hall open forum to discuss Furman's current alcohol policy. Junior class senator Bran Fowler closed the forum, confirming that AFS will vote to pass the new resolution at its meeting next week.
Held at 6 p.m. in the Watkins Room of the University Center, the AFS forum gave students an opportunity to present their comments and questions before a panel of administrative representatives, including Connie Carson and Carol Daniels of Student Services, Edward Young and Jason Cassidy of Housing and Residence Life and Stephanie Boyd, Furman's resident Health Educator.
One by one, students posed questions concerning alcohol-related issues, including the Greenville Sheriff Department's grant to reduce drunk driving and underage drinking, the university's off-campus conduct policy and - perhaps most frequently - students' desire for university policy reform.
Towards the forum's end, Carson said that successful reform will require a unified, thorough student proposal, backed by both the Furman University Substance Abuse Council and the Office of Student Life. The proposal will then be given to the Student Life Committee - a group consisting primarily of trustees, with representatives from the faculty and from the student body - to present before the full Board of Trustees.
"We've held 3 or 4 of these forums in the ten years that I've been here," said Boyd Yarbrough, vice president for Administrative Services. "This was the most students I've ever seen show up in support of any one particular issue."
Though this is by no means the first attempt to reform the university's on-campus alcohol policy, it is certainly one of the most logical, pragmatic and cohesive, Yarbrough said.
AFS president Ben Able said that the coming months will be spent garnering support for the resolution amongst student groups. AFS plans to bring its resolution before the Board of Trustees when it reconvenes in November, or later when the trustees meet next February if necessary.