Dean DiChristina Discusses Alcohol-Free Lower Lot

CHRIS BULFINCH ’18
NEWS EDITOR
The parking lot at the end of Vernon Street, near the field hockey field, will no longer be used for tailgating with alcohol, according to new rule promulgated by the College. Having witnessed “a fair number of people drinking who were underage” during Homecoming last year, Dean of Student Life Joe DiChristina, along with other Trinity administrators, decided to make the parking lot at the end of Vernon Street, a popular tailgating location in years past, especially for Homecoming, an alcohol-free zone.
In a gesture to the Greek Letter Organizations whose alumni constitute a fair number of tailgaters, DiChristina and the Trinity administration offered to allow Greek houses to register parties with alcohol before the start of the football game; previously, fraternities could only throw parties with alcohol after the football game.
DiChristina emphasized that the new policy was not an attempt to make Homecoming a dry event and that the administration’s goal was simply to avoid “unsafe situations” and comply with Connecticut state law.
DiChristina further denied that the new policy was in any way an attempt to put the onus of liability onto Greek Organizations, though the policy has proven unpopular among Trinity’s Greek houses. After a strained meeting between DiChristina and Trinity’s Inter-Greek Council, the administration made its offer to allow earlier parties.
DiChristina indicated that parents and alumni had not been consulted about the decision in any official capacity, though DiChristina also met with a number of student leaders to discuss the new policy.
The parking lot adjacent to Hansen, halfway down Vernon Street, will still be a place for alums who graduated ten or more years ago to tailgate with alcohol, as it always has been. DiChristina added that he would be sending an email out in the next couple of days to further explain the administration’s decision.