No Good Samaritan Law for Benevolent Booze Purchasing

An integral part of freshman year is swarming to upperclass houses, where enterprising students put Harvard ingenuity to work as they try to listen for loud, blaring party music. Some achieve their goal of getting blindingly drunk, willfully disregarding the ubiquitous signs behind the bar: “You must be 21 or older to drink.”

But could the pernicious purveyers of that alcohol actually get in trouble for feeding underage booze hounds?

The College’s Handbook for Students says that the “provision of alcohol to anyone under 21 years of age [is a violation] of the law and of Harvard policy,” but the likelihood of getting busted is unclear.

Assistant Dean of the College John L. “Jay” Ellison, administrative board secretary, didn’t say how often students are punished for serving alcohol to underage drinkers. He did note, however, that the Ad Board reserves the right to act. “Students who violate the rules established by the faculty do face the possibility of action by the Ad Board,” Ellison writes in an e-mail.

Harvard University Police Department spokesman Steven G. Catalano says that various civil, criminal, and College sanctions could be brought against an odious offender, but that the police are more concerned about safety than just busting kids.

“Like all police forces, HUPD uses its professional judgment because each situation is unique,” Catalano writes in an e-mail. “When behavior puts people at risk, the possibility of an arrest is always an option.”

So while it’s unclear how likely you are to get in deep trouble for pouring Pimm’s, Harvard always leaves the door open to throw the book at ruthless rule-breakers.