For example, instead of mandating that each House have Student Event Services (SES) teams of trained graduate students at their events, Hammonds has asked House Masters to determine who they consider to be responsible adults—be they SES teams, tutors, or trained students—and stick to this policy. At Lowell House events this translates to House Committee members and tutors checking IDs; in Adams, that responsibility is delegated to a former resident tutor; and in Pforzheimer House, the responsibility was handed over to school-sponsored Beverage Authorization Teams, the predecessors to SES teams.

Hammonds’s initiatives had an immediate effect across the Houses, as Pfoho canceled its semiannual golf event—which involved drinks and food in students’ rooms throughout the House. Pfoho House Masters cited the inability to control who could drink and the game-like nature of the event in their House-wide email that explained the decision.

The move elicited an uproar over the House’s open-list, which often reflects the ebb and flow of student anger.

While the effects of Hammonds’ refined policy had varying ramifications for House steins, House formal alcohol policies were more universally affected.

Alex—a 21-year-old sophomore—recalled his experience at a House formal this spring. After dinner in the dining hall, Alex and his roommate met up with their dates in Alex’s room to “pre-game” the night.

By 8:30 p.m., strains of indie music floated through the common room. The four drank two bottles of wine and a mix of vodka and cranberry juice.

As the couples got ready to leave for the formal, his friends—all underage and worried they wouldn’t be able to drink more once they arrived—decided they “weren’t drunk enough.” They downed more of the vodka-cranberry mix in preparation for the potentially dry night ahead, leaving behind two empty wine bottles and a half-consumed bottle of vodka.

“We need to get a certain amount of drunk before we go because we’re not going to be able to drink anymore,” Alex says.

Once they arrived at formal, though, the drinking did not end. Alex flashed his ID at the bar and picked up a few drinks for his underage companions.

GOING FOUR LOKO

In addition to administrators’ attempts to monitor and control the drinking that the College officially sponsors, administrators have worked to stamp out what they see as particularly egregious and dangerous instances of student drinking.

For the past two years, College administrators have attempted to end a “supposed tradition” called “River Run,” after the Class of 2012 “took housing activities to an extreme,” according to a 743-word email sent to all freshmen by Dean of Freshmen Thomas A. Dingman ’67 this spring.

In River Run’s heyday, freshmen moved from House to House taking shots in courtyards and in suites. The exact traditions were unclear—some took shots for the Houses they wanted, others for Houses they didn’t. Then, some freshmen—brazenly violating the law and College policy—would set paper boats aflame in the Charles River to “Please the River Gods.”

While freshmen still continued to trek across campus this spring for River Run, their movements were more tepid and their drinking more guarded.

Dingman’s threats that rogue students could face the Administrative Board—Harvard’s primary disciplinary body—or potential arrest seemed to have their intended effect.