Wednesday night hot spot Fish Co Bar & Grill has become the latest focus in the University's efforts to limit underage drinking.
Following "a number of incidents" at Fish Co in which "underage students got themselves into situations where they were hurt or could have been hurt," administrators have spoken with the owners of the bar as well as the Providence Police Department, said Russell Carey '91 MA'06, interim vice president for campus life and student services. Carey said so far there has only been discussion on this issue and did not elaborate further.
Carey said the discussion about Fish Co is just one part of broader concern about student drinking. The University's goal is "to minimize the risk to the health and safety of students," he said.
Director of Athletics Michael Goldberger said he and Carey recently held a meeting with coaches in response to the incidents at Fish Co, which is located at 515 South Water St. He said the issue of underage drinking at the bar was brought up on Sunday at a meeting of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, which is made up of student representatives from each varsity team.
"There were a couple of incidents that came to my attention," Goldberger said, which is "sort of why we thought it was important to get coaches together and talk about it, and why we thought it was important to speak about it with student-athletes."
"Drinking is a concern," he added. "If we have a chance to provide for the health and well-being of our students we want to help do that."
The increased attention paid to Fish Co by administrators caused unease among some students, particularly athletes, said Fish Co-regular Phoebe Lapine '07.
"This week, no athletes will be going to Fish Co," Lapine said. "All the athletes are worried the coaches will be sending people down (to monitor students)," she said. Lapine added that students are worried the University will be "sending representatives from campus life" as well.
Goldberger said there are currently no plans to send coaches to Fish Co, though he added that it is up to individual coaches to decide whether to take such measures.
Carey stressed, however, that underage drinking at Fish Co is not only a student-athlete issue.
Caitlyn Fox '07, who frequents Fish Co, said she believes the majority of students who attend the bar are underage. "I get the idea that Fish Co is a place where younger Brown students know they'll be able to drink. ... Other places it might be more of a gamble," she said.
She added that the atmosphere at Fish Co is "conducive to heavy drinking."
The Campus Life Advisory Board Subcommittee on Alcohol and Other Drugs released a report in August which named decreasing the level of underage drinking as a priority. The report also suggested creating a partnership with the Providence Board of Licenses to decrease sales of alcohol to minors and "working with neighbors" to address the issue.
Lapine said any measures the University takes to limit underage drinking at Fish Co would be "kind of pointless" and "unfair."
"Max's used to be the same deal as Fish Co," Lapine said, referring to Max's Upstairs, a bar that used to be located on Thayer Street between Cushing and Meeting streets. "Max's is gone, is there still underage drinking? Yes. Did we find other places to go? Yes," she said.
The bar is quite popular among Brown students, especially during "Brown Night" on Wednesdays, Fox said. On Wednesdays, "pretty much everybody there is from Brown," she said.
The Student Union, which organizes campus-wide social events, is working to provide alternative programming for Wednesday nights, said Student Union member Swathi Bojedla '07. Carey said there are no specific plans for programming but groups can organize events with the help of the Late Night Fund, which supports non-alcoholic student events.
