A typical weekend party at Brown might involve cramming students into a small lounge area, playing loud club music and filling hundreds of plastic cups with cheap beer and vodka. However, students and faculty on the board that administers the newly created Late Night Fund are working to change this image.
Begun as a pilot program this semester, the Late Night Fund provides money for student groups to hold weekend social events that do not serve alcohol. According to the University's Web site, the Late Night Fund has a budget of $20,000 that the board can distribute to any campus group interested in holding a dry event.
This semester the fund has sponsored events including a party thrown by the Persian Club, a Grey's Anatomy marathon and a Zoot Suit Ball. This weekend will feature two events which received money from the Late Night Fund: the "Relay for Life," which is co-sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and "Games Night for Religious Freedom," which is being sponsored by Amnesty International and Interfaith House.
Members of the board said the idea for the Late Night Fund originated from a string of incidents last semester involving alcohol that prompted the University to create the Ad Hoc Committee to Review Social Events Policy and Procedures. One of the committee's recommendations was to start a fund for non-alcoholic events on campus.
A main reason for creating the Late Night Fund was to address the lack of non-alcoholic social options on weekends, according to Shelly Adriance, coordinator of student activities and a faculty adviser to the Late Night Fund board.
"It has been the funding board's focus to support fun, social events that go past midnight on Friday and Saturday nights in order to provide the social outlet that is needed," Adriance wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
"By putting money into non-alcoholic events, it would be a short-term way to respond to alcohol and policy issues," said Deanna Chaukos '08, chair of the Undergraduate Council of Student's Campus Life Committee and the council's representative on the Late Night Fund board.
Chaukos said the Late Night Fund is similar to the Undergraduate Finance Board in that it receives requests for funding from student groups. But the Late Night Fund is much more flexible than UFB because its board can fund one-time events, whereas UFB gives a yearly budget to established student groups.
"We can schedule events that haven't been funded in the past; smaller groups that don't have the budgets to have events," Chaukos said, adding many category I groups, which do not have a budget from UFB, have used the Late Night Fund for funding.
In addition to not serving alcohol, groups applying for funding from the Late Night Fund are prohibited from using the money for fundraisers or to hold an academic event. Chaukos said the Late Night Fund is intended only for social events.
"We wanted the money to go to non-alcoholic events that would replace going to a party on Friday or Saturday night." Chaukos said.
In this manner, the Late Night Fund not only encourages students not to drink, but also encourages students who don't drink to go out on weekends, Chaukos said.
"We want to persuade students to go out Friday night that wouldn't go out at all," Chaukos said.
Initially many of the requests received by the Late Night Fund board were academic in nature, Adriance wrote, but the board started receiving more requests for social events as the semester progressed. "I think people are beginning to understand that the goals of the fund are to promote social events," she wrote.
The Late Night Fund has already allocated much of its budget. According to the University's Web site, the fund is not accepting any more student applications for this semester.
The Late Night Fund in action
Atena Asiaii '08 turned to the Late Night Fund in order to finance Norouz Soiree, a party hosted by the Persian Club in March. The event, which celebrated Iranian culture, included a catered dinner and a dance party.
Asiaii said while planning the celebration, event organizers considered serving alcohol but opted against it because it would have been too expensive. Since the group was not serving alcohol, it decided to apply for financial support from the Late Night Fund.
"If it wasn't for them we wouldn't have been able to throw such an amazing event," she said.
Asiaii said there were no problems with drinking at the party, and that the "vast majority" of the guests did not drink.
"Everyone enjoyed themselves without drinking - they actually remembered it the next day," Asiaii said.
Emily Blatter '07, one of the co-chairs of Brown's Relay for Life event, said the Late Night Fund enabled organizers to keep their event running after they lost some of their funding this year. Blatter said the Late Night Fund was paying for the evening's entertainment, which includes movies and performances by a cappella groups and bands.
Relay for Life, which is in its third year of existence, is an all-night walking marathon that raises money for cancer research. Drinking and smoking are prohibited at the event, which Blatter said made it a natural fit for the Late Night Fund sponsorship.
Diana Moke '07, one of the organizers of "Games Night for Religious Freedom," said the planners of the event turned to the Late Night Fund because it was a "great way to get money."
Moke said the event could have happened without the fund's support, but it probably "wouldn't haven been as long." The event includes free food, along with games, a cappella performances, letter writing and card-making activities.
Moke said organizers' funding request was initially rejected because information included on the application was not specific enough about the organization of the event. He said members of the Late Night Fund board wanted to ensure the group had programming scheduled throughout the night.
"They want to keep people in the same place and not have them going out and drinking," Moke said.
Students respond to the fund
Some students, including those who have benefited directly from the Late Night Fund, told The Herald they believe providing a non-alcoholic option on weekends is a much needed addition to Brown's social scene. Asiaii, who is Muslim and does not drink alcohol for religious reasons, said she often is frustrated by the lack of non-alcoholic events on weekends.
"There is often nothing to do on campus if you don't drink," Asiaii said. She said many students feel uncomfortable being around drinking if they themselves do not drink.
"People might not want to go to a dance party because of the presence of alcohol," Asiaii said.
Scott Hochberg '09, who said he usually does not drink on weekends, said he looks for non-alcoholic events on campus during the weekends.
"I go to Improvidence shows, hang out with friends, go see movies," Hochberg said.
Some students also said there are many students who do drink that would also attend a non-alcoholic event.
"There is not such a dichotomous distinction between the world of students who drink at Brown and students who don't drink," Jesse Cohen '07 said. "Students like options, and the Late Night Fund provides a larger universe of weekend opportunities," he added.
Even places that are traditionally associated with drinking do not necessarily need to have alcoholic events in order to draw people. Jesse Stout '06, who is a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi, said while his fraternity does have parties with alcohol, it also holds non-alcoholic events.
"We have the 10 to 2 (a.m.) parties where we serve alcohol," Stout said, "but we also have events like the Hanukkah party where we don't serve alcohol." He said that people go to the Hanukkah party "to celebrate Hanukkah with the AEPi brothers."
With that event, Stout said, "we're targeting a different atmosphere."
