New program teaches students to party smart

By Emily Entress

In an effort to improve the safety of students living off-campus, the Community Development branch of Associated Student Government, the Office of Student Life and the Santa Clara Police Department have teamed up to implement the Educated Partier Program on Santa Clara's campus.

"The purpose of the program is to assist students in creating safe and responsible party environments when hosting parties and events in the adjacent neighborhoods to Santa Clara and off-campus," summarized Kim Gilkey, the assistant dean for off-campus student life in the Office of Student Life.

According to the official definition created by ASG and the Office of Student life three years ago, the goal of the program is three-fold: to reduce the likelihood of harmful behaviors during parties or events, to increase the likelihood of hosting responsible social gatherings, and to educate students on the risks of serving alcohol to underage drinkers.

"It's what we can do on our part to ease relationships between student houses, the neighbors surrounding them, and the police," commented Lindsay Gray, the current President of the Community Development branch of ASG and therefore in charge of the Educated Partier Program.

So how exactly does the program work? According to Gray, program leaders select off-campus houses that seem to uphold values about partying safely. From there, if the members of the house express interest in being part of the program, police conduct an approval process to clear the house, checking for house history and location.

"If they approve the house, then we contact the members letting them know they are approved and we give them an opportunity to attend a training session with us," said Gray.

During the two-hour training session, a team of Peer Trainers, members of the SC Police Department, and Gilkey all train students to learn everything from which doors to lock, where to stand to control traffic, fire code violations and more.

"We go about the training, teaching them how to party safely. We're not encouraging them to party, but we just want them to learn how to do it safely and smartly," commented Gray.

While there are no set restrictions on which houses can be included in the search; according to Gray, they are looking for a house that is socially responsible and would effectively utilize the skills that they are teaching in the program.

However, there are a few requirements of joining the program. First, the house must put an orange decal on their window to alert police and students that they are a certified Educated Partier house. Secondly, at least one member of the house must remain sober during parties and wear the bright orange "Educated Partier" shirt to alert other students that they are not consuming alcohol.

This year, of the 50 houses that initially signed up with the Educated Partier program, 30 were approved by the police, 18 were invited to be trained, and finally 6 went through the training program.

Although ASG was expecting a higher response from houses that had been approved, a few more are on the waiting list to be trained, such as the Alviso house nicknamed "Hogwarts."  

"We are having parties at our house anyway, lots of get-togethers with friends, and yeah the program has restrictions like having one person sober, but they kind of fit into what we tend to have at our parties anyways," commented Ryan Diemer, a senior Santa Clara student who lives at Hogwarts.

"Usually between the eight people in our house there's one person that's not drinking."

In addition to the benefits of educating people how to party safely, Diemer is excited about the free stuff they will get through the Party Packs, handed out by request to each house in the program by ASG. The pack includes several cases of water and soda, cleaning supplies, snacks, a first aid kit, and a packet of information on alcohol poisoning and other tips about how to party safely.

The program was created in 2008 when Rachel Manfre, the then-president of ASG, came to Gilkey with the desire to create a program to increase safety off-campus. Since then, there have been two years of pilot programs, culminating in the first full-fledged program being offered to students this year.

"We've had a pretty good response of students wanting to learn more about being educated about risks and responsibility and how they can reduce that when they host a party," said Gilkey. "That's the main thing, we're giving information to students in a way they are willing to accept it, absorb it."

If you are at a party, keep an eye out for the orange Educated Partier signs, and there will be people with a degree in party safety.

Contact Emily Entress at eentress@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4546.