Campus Safety reports have shown a significant spike in alcohol poisoning during this year’s Welcome the First-years Week (WTF Week). The increase comes after the New Student Engagement office rolled out new measures to try and decrease the amount of public drinking on campus.
In an email sent out to students on February 27, 2024, Dean Karlene Burrell-McRae and Dean Tomiko Jenkins informed Bryn Mawr students of “important developments for WTF this year.” These developments included stricter regulations around alcohol consumption, and banned students from bringing any drinks to WTF events, including non-alcoholic beverages. Students were also told not to bring bags to any WTF events and were given with clear plastic bags as substitutes. The email also stated that faculty would be present at traditional WTF events which have been known to feature partial student nudity.
In response to these regulations, Bryn Mawr’s Student Government Association (SGA), along with other student organizations, expressed concern over their greater implications. In an email sent out to the student body, SGA informed students that they had spoken to administrators about their various problems with the new regulations, stating “we [SGA] were particularly worried about the potential punitive nature of the policies, which we feel are not rooted in harm reduction practices, as well as the increased risk of binge drinking and unsafe behavior.”
Dean Jenkins sent out an additional email to the student body on February 28 after receiving complaints from students. In it, she stated that “over the last several months, many students have shared with us their discomfort created by the emphasis upon alcohol and other substances at these events…ethically and legally we are responsible for doing our best to ensure that public events on campus are as safe and inclusive as possible…”
Campus safety reported a total of seven incidents of alcohol-related illnesses on the Friday of WTF alone. Of these seven, five were taken to the hospital to be treated. Last year, only one student was reported to have had alcohol poisoning on the Friday of WTF Week.
In a comment to the Bi-Co News, Dean Burrell-Mcrae stated “The uptick in students becoming sick from excessive alcohol consumption could be attributed to numerous factors. The responsibility of the Undergraduate Deans Division is to help keep students safe in the context of following laws. We will ensure our students continue to receive the necessary education to care for themselves and others while having fun and enjoying their collegiate experience.”
Students who spoke to the Bi-Co expressed concerned about the recent administrative changes to WTF week events and their possible effects.
“I do think there was an atmosphere of kind of secrecy this WTF week, and that if I were a freshmen it would definitely have made me feel like I had to drink a lot before I went to the events… and I do feel like the atmosphere of secrecy was tied to administration[‘s regulations]” says Helen, class of ’25, who did not want her last name to be public.
Annabella Hernandez BMC ’26, thought the increase could also be a result of more surveillance: “[the increased presence of security] caused more incidents of drunkness, that would not normally require hospitalization, to be flagged, questioned, and sent to the hospital” she said.
Other students said it felt like a betrayal of the honor code and the culture of trust the campus had established over the years.
Emma Ruebsteck, BMC ’25, told the Bi-Co News that “because there is a strict schedule, with one hour of downtime for students to drink, they binge drink because the threat of the deans. And that is more scary than the thought of campus safety coming up to me.”
