With classes starting and students settling into the rhythm of college life, the party scene at the Claremont Colleges is in full swing – but a high amount of drinking-related incidents and hospital transports has prompted concern among students and administration.
Over the weekend of Sept. 3, during which the Associated Students of Claremont McKenna College (ASCMC) hosted “6:01”, the annual celebration of the end of the campus’s “substance-free period,” the college saw some of its highest numbers of drinking-related incidents, according to an email sent to students by Residential Assistant Kaavya Narayan CM ’25.
The email accompanied an infographic that encouraged students to drink responsibly and reminded them of CMC’s Good Samaritan Policy, which allows them to seek help after excessive drinking or drug use without risking punitive action by the college.
According to the CMC Dean of Students Office (DOS), students who are transported also receive support to prevent future incidents.
“When students drink irresponsibly, we want students to call for help,” they wrote in an email to TSL. “Transports can save lives.”
On Sept. 5, several days after the 6:01 party, CMC Dean of Students Jimmy Doan emailed the student body to address the “immoderate use of alcohol” on campus in the preceding weeks.
“We are an extremely close-knit community,” Doan wrote. “Your choices and behavior impact everyone, including building attendants, Public Safety, fellow students, and so many others in our community.”
The email was followed by an announcement from DOS on Sept. 10 stating that campus policies regarding alcohol at ASCMC parties would be changing. Beginning on Sept. 21 at the Oktoberfest party, students will be asked to show identification to prove that they are of legal drinking age.
While CMC was the only 5C college to address a growing problem with drinking-related incidents, some students at the other campuses agree that the level of alcohol use over the past few weeks has been concerning.
For Gerard Lapuente PO ’27, the amount of drinking-related incidents and transports on campus appear to be on the rise.
“In my [freshmen] year, I did not see a lot of these transports,” he said. “I think it’s really concerning because we just started school.”
But according to Dean of Students Josh Eisenberg, Pomona College has seen a consistent number of transports since the college created its amnesty policy — which states that students cooperating in an alcohol or drug-related investigation will not be sanctioned — in 2019. Now, he said, Pomona sees an average of one to three transported students during the first weekend of the school year.
Ultimately, Eisenberg encouraged students to reach out for help when needed.
“People may be drinking underage — that happens at colleges,” he said. “We’re not going around knocking on doors. We are trying to help the people who come to our attention.”
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