Bates College - Campus Strictness

College Prowler Take

Compared to other schools, Bates has a relatively relaxed drinking policy. Drinking is permitted in dorms, provided they aren’t chem-free. If security catches someone drinking outside, they’ll ask the student to pour his or her drink out and then let the student go. Several years ago, most forms of drinking were allowed on campus, but a series of alcohol-related hospitalizations caused the school to re-evaluate its drinking policy. Now, hard alcohol is prohibited (even to students who are of age), and people caught breaking this rule can be given strikes. Students who have three strikes are brought before the Disciplinary Committee. Unregistered kegs are also against the rules, and if a party with an unregistered keg is broken up, the person responsible for the party will get a strike, and everyone else will be sent home.

The original reason for Bates’ lenient alcohol policy was the belief that college students are going to drink no matter what the school does to stop them. The College wanted to discourage surreptitious drinking and ensure that students who have had too much to drink would not be afraid to go to Health Services if needed. Bates decided to change this policy in an attempt to curb the alarming number of hospitalizations due to alcohol poisoning. Security has recently started cracking down on beer pong games in the hallways, but this is more to comply with fire codes than for any other reason. Even now, Bates is far less strict than other colleges, at least in regards to alcohol. In other ways, Bates can be fairly strict. Rooms are checked over breaks, and students who forget to hide their illegal appliances or cable-stealing wires and boxes can get in trouble. Bates is also very strict about parking—illegally parked cars are nearly always ticketed, and sometimes even towed.

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Students Speak Out

BatKS says: Bates College 2015 Social Sciences

Beer is allowed on campus, but... Beer is allowed on campus, but hard alcohol is prohibited. Security keeps everyone safe, while not being too invasive. 12345 Campus Strictness: March 05, 2009 Report

katiswb says:

It's not very strict at all. The... It's not very strict at all. The beer-drinking policy is very laid back, and I usually run into security at some point when I go out, and they don't care as long as you're just drinking beer. If you are drinking hard alcohol or smoking pot, you will get a strike. But, this hardly dampens the drinking or smoking scene. Just be discrete about hard alcohol and pot. 12345 Campus Strictness: February 28, 2009 Report

BatAC says: Bates College 2014 Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Security doesn't care much about... Security doesn't care much about beer or wine, but hard alcohol can get you in serious trouble. 12345 Campus Strictness: February 16, 2009 Report

BatRL says: Bates College 2014 Psychology

Bates has an interesting... Bates has an interesting policy—when it comes to alcohol, beer and wine are allowed, but hard alcohol is a NO. Everybody at Bates gets three strikes—if you're seen in a room with hard alcohol, even if you're not drinking it, you get a strike. So, if you're going to drink it, you'd better have it hidden really well and be really quiet while you're drinking it so you don't attract any attention. When it comes to beer and wine, security is pretty relaxed—they just want to make sure that everyone's being safe. 12345 Campus Strictness: February 15, 2009 Report

Anonymous says:

Security on campus is getting... Security on campus is getting stricter and stricter as the years go on. One day we’ll all be chained to our desks—well, probably not. 12345 Campus Strictness Report

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