PACE workgroup offers preliminary house party recommendations
From small, collegial get-togethers to balcony-straining blowouts that end with trips to the detox center and visits from the police, house parties are a fixture of college life.
The PACE Project, a campus-community coalition formed to reduce the dangers associated with high-risk drinking, is developing ideas on how to keep house parties safe and ways to resolve issues when they get out of hand.
House party issues are particularly timely this week, with the Mifflin Street block party — essentially a collection of house parties — taking place Saturday, May 3.
The recommendations of the workgroup suggest that a cooperative, integrated approach, involving students, police, UW–Madison administrators, neighborhood association members and property managers can be effective, to the benefit of all. Accordingly, representatives of those groups have been at the table, discussing the issue. The workgroup began meeting last fall and has continued through the spring semester.
“We’ve heard from a number of constituencies that house parties and safety are a concern,” says Sudi Ceglarek, PACE Project coordinator. “And we know that about one-quarter of students in detox had been drinking at a house party. That’s why we’ve made house-party safety one of our priorities.
“Even students who throw these parties want to improve the situation,” she adds. “The fallout from a badly run party can range from expensive tickets to sexual assaults.”
Dave Brunow, a UW–Madison senior and member of the workgroup, felt that it was important for students to get involved.
“My roommates and I joined the committee to provide a much-needed student perspective into the issue,” he says. “We applauded the goals set forth by the committee, but wanted to make sure that the members had a clear concept of what actually goes on at parties, as well as a realistic view of what can be accomplished in terms of improving safety.”
One of the recommendations of the group was to create a guide for throwing safe house parties. Brunow and several other student members took on the task and have generated a draft document. During the summer, members of the workgroup will flesh out the house party guide and create an action plan based on the rest of the recommendations.
The guide and the formal recommendations of the workgroup will be released in the fall. Here are some preliminary recommendations from the workgroup:
- Provide a better transition for students from university housing to neighborhood leases
- Develop relationships between students and long-term residents, starting with the move-in date in August
- Establish forums for new tenants to provide more familiarity with the terms of their leases and their obligations if they host house parties
- Engage landlords in resolving unsafe house-party situations
- Consider specific language in leases addressing hosting parties and/or restrictions on kegs
- Discuss zoning and land-use issues with the Mayor’s Office to determine if distribution of multiple family homes is contributing to unsafe house parties,
- Explore the possible role of the Dean of Students Office in addressing non-academic misconduct issues arising from house parties
- Involve community police officers in reaching out to new students in neighborhoods.
PACE Project members emphasize that the continued involvement of all those affected by house parties is essential to creating a safer environment.
“We’ve come a long way from the crackdowns of the 1990s,” says Aaron Brower, principal investigator on the project and a UW–Madison professor of social work. “It’s not just a matter of calling in more police to solve the problem. Everyone is coming together to make sure that solutions are effective and fair.”