By placing the emphasis on social interaction and not the alcohol, Kirshner says he hopes Stein Club will be attractive to residents who are not yet 21.

Getting in the door of Stein Club may not guarantee a resident a full stein of beer.

While the Houses do not use one system of carding, all of the House committees that host stein clubs say the events are not a forum for underage drinking.

A key to the success of stein club comes from an understanding between the masters, tutors and students that underage drinking will not be tolerated, they say.

“It’s very clear in the minds of our students that underage drinking would be simply unacceptable and would jeopardize the status of the Stein Club,” says Leverett Senior Tutor Catherine Shapiro.

Mark E. Lee ’01-’02, Quincy House committee co-chair, says that preventing underage drinking and making Stein Club a welcoming environment is a “balancing act.”

“People who are underage have already approached me,” Lee says. “And honestly, we’re not going to be busting people. But they have to understand that the tutors are going to be there, the Master is going to be there and everyone knows who’s under 21.”

The success of Quincy’s Stein Club may hinge on the attitudes of sophomores, he says.

“I’ve been impressed by the sophomore spirit, saying they understand that, hey, they can drink next year,”

Lee says. “Everyone respects what we’re trying to gain.”

At the first Quincy Stein Club event, residents who were 21 got a sticker when they paid their $10 House dues. Before a resident can fill up his stein, he must present his ID with the sticker, which features a stein and a punched-out star.

Kirshner joked that he doubts the house committee will have to resort to ID cards with holograms.

“The House guys have been very responsible and conscientious about making sure the drinking age will be enforced,” he says.

For their first event, the Quincy House committee chairs checked IDs, but Eng-Lee says tutors may do it in the future.

Taub says that it makes the most sense to have the students organizing the event check identification.