“The rules from the Commonwealth [of Massachussetts] are pretty clear,” Hyman said. “We are going to follow the law, but we have to grapple with education.”

Rosenthal said that he hopes he will have substantial leeway as a doctor to discuss responsible drinking with students.

“We as healthcare providers can teach people how to drink responsibly. I’d say ‘Listen, I can’t stop you from drinking, but if you are, you have to drink responsibly,’” Rosenthal said. “We need to be realistic.”

Hyman, who as provost oversees UHS, said that doctors—but not administrators—can discuss responsible drinking with students.

A member of Harvard’s General Counsel staff will sit on the committee to ensure that the committee recommends changes within the bounds of the law, according to Hyman.

To avoid too much legal hand-wringing, Badaracco said that he expects the committee to focus more on severe health crises than responsible drinking.

—Joshua D. Gottlieb contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Crimson staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.