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Administration Considers Party Barn
By Emily Clifton '08
STAFF WRITER

At Sweet Briar, the boathouse is the most likely place to find a party. But there are many rules and regulations involved in using the boathouse, and as a facility it leaves much to be desired in some ways. For example, it lacks a water fountain, a necessity for preventing people from getting sick from alcohol during parties.

Our ability to use the residence halls for parties is limited by several factors. There are rules about noise, and people paid to enforce those rules. There are even rules about the number of people allowed in each room. According to the handbook, only one guest per person who resides in the room may be present at one time. We are also limited in housing choices, so people dissatisfied by either their ability to make noise or escape it in their residence halls often have no alternative. The handbook states "Students are not permitted to live off campus unless they are enrolled as a Turning Point student or are living at home with a parent or guardian in Amherst County, Nelson County or the City of Lynchburg and are enrolled at the College as a Day Student. Students who turn 23 years of age prior to the fall enrollment are permitted to reside off campus upon written request to the Executive Assistant to the President."

The few attempts to party elsewhere often result in disaster. One such event, held in a hotel room at the Elston Inn last spring, resulted in over $3000 in damages that were then the responsibility of the student who booked the room.

Parties held in residence halls are usually orchestrated in such a way that it is easy to stop them. In fact, a party planned on facebook, to be held during orientation of last year, was discovered and put to a stop by residence life before the students even arrived.

Parties held off-campus are difficult to find unless students are willing to go to other campuses in the area. This presents a problem for people who do not have a place to stay but want to drink. They are faced with a decision between driving back to SBC while under the influence, or finding a place to stay with some they don’t know—equally dangerous options. The latter is serious issue especially for Sweet Briar, as many students who have experienced or known someone to experience a sexual assault at an off-campus event will know.

As for the former, we are mostly in a rural area where public places like gas stations have long been closed for the night, there are few public phones, and cell phone reception is limited. Accidents do happen, and it is neither safe nor legal to drive while intoxicated.

This brings me to the recently proposed party barn. While no official plans are in progress to complete such a project, it has been mentioned at board meetings and SGA meetings, and informally throughout the campus. It is the responsibility of the students to continue to present the idea and bring it forward to the powers that be in the administration. Unlike most campuses, a great deal of the governing of our student body is in our hands via SGA. Attend the meetings, and be willing to share your ideas. United, students can implement change.

Cheryl Steele, the Dean of Co-Curricular Life, relayed the following message: “We are always seeking ways to enhance students' residential experience at Sweet Briar. We are interested in receiving student input about general interests and needs and we want to continue to find ways to solicit student opinions.”

In addition, Co-Curricular Life recently contacted 150 students who were randomly selected to participate in focus groups on a variety of questions related to student life--the questions are particularly designed to solicit information related to residential life and social life. Two focus groups met prior to the Thanksgiving break.

Co-Curricular Life had hoped to hold all of these groups prior to the end of this semester, but because of the timing at the end of the academic semester, decided to schedule them to occur after students return in January. Students who were invited to participate, but have not responded, should respond before the end of the semester.