Crackdown on Use, Abuse of Alcohol

The alcohol-related death this fall of MIT freshman Scott Krueger, who lapsed into a coma during a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity party, brought swift state and local action against underage drinking. The Massachusetts Board of Higher

Illustration by Stephen Anderson

Education voted two weeks later to ban alcohol on all state and community college campuses. At MIT, state investigators from the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission busted a keg delivery to three underage fraternity members. Harvard has not banned alcohol, but dean of the College Harry Lewis and the dean of students, Archie Epps, issued an October 22 statement on alcohol that spoke of "renewed commitment to enforcement" of state law, Cambridge City ordinances, and College regulations through cooperation with city officials. The deans also took the opportunity to single out final clubs as places where "functions...may be disorderly and dangerous," and said that the Cambridge police commissioner intended to "monitor and enforce alcohol regulations at the Clubs." Just a month after that warning, on the eve of the Yale game, two Harvard freshmen were arrested in a Cambridge police department sting operation while purchasing alcohol. The students paid fines of $285 and $50. One lost his driver's license.