Vanderbilt kills student plan to build beer store
NASHVILLE (AP) — Student leaders at Vanderbilt thought they had a great idea, and certainly a unique one: a campus beer store where meal plan cards could be used to buy favorite malt beverages.
But the idea was definitely not a hit with administrators, who basically dismissed the notion as nonsense once word of the plan began spreading around campus last week.
Interhall, the student government for dorm and residential life, decided that it wanted a store that would sell beer on campus. Their research showed it might have even been a first among college campuses in the region.
“It’d be nice, convenient to make a run to it without having to go off campus,” said Vanderbilt student James McAdams.
Supporters said the store would require two forms of ID to prevent sales to those under age 21 — and profits from it could be used to lower the cost of other goods purchased in the Vanderbilt network of student stores. They also said the market might reduce drinking and driving arrests because there would be fewer late-night trips to the local convenience stores.
“We have to prove that alcohol is not something that is bad, or something that is to be feared,” said Adam Spector, Interhall president. “We are college students and part of being college students is drinking.”
Armed with a mid-March Interhall resolution and a plan for the store, student leaders marched off to meet with administrators. Spector thought his sales pitch went well, and hoped for a beer store by this time next year.
Administrators, however, came out of the meetings with different ideas.
“We are an educational institution; we are not in the business of promoting drinking,” university Vice Chancellor Mark Bandas said in a statement.
The campus does have a pub, where pints can be purchased with the prepaid meal plan card. On a Friday afternoon, though, it was nearly empty and students say servers are quick to cut off those drinking too much.
Support for the beer store is far from unanimous among students. Some worry that it would make beer easier to get — and increase a date rape problem perceived to be caused by alcohol abuse.
“It would definitely promote underage drinking — as if it’s not promoted already,” freshman Steven Harris said of the beer store.
Administrators are leery of the perception that the school would be too closely linked to student drinking if undergraduates could simply use meal plan cards to load up on beer.
“We are very concerned about underage drinking and alcohol abuse,” Bandas said.
Spector said he and other supporters are going to continue to lobby administrators for the beer store, and he is holding out hope that the beer store will ultimately prevail.
“In a lot of cases it’s easy to see the negative side of alcohol, but I think there is a positive side to this plan,” he said, noting they have not been able to find any universities that have beer stores. “There’s nothing wrong with being a leader.”