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The Rice Thresher
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by Rachel Rustin Thresher staff The university cancelled a traditional, unofficial Hanszen College party last week. In a letter to all Hanszen students, Masters Klaus and Eugenia Weissenberger said "Tequila Night" could not happen this year. In previous years, the party has been a shot-drinking contest for freshmen held the night after the first round of introductory chemistry, physics and mathematics tests. The letter, dated Sept. 27, states: "... the University has asked the Masters of Hanszen College to inform you that 'Tequila Night' cannot take place any longer in its traditional form and nature. We thank you for your support and encourage you to establish an alternative tradition in its place." Klaus Weissenberger refused to comment about the letter. According to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs John Hutchinson, the General Counsel's Office initiated the discussion about the party within the past few weeks. "Tequila Night is sufficiently well-known on campus that it amounts to a public party," Hutchinson said. "It is also known to be dangerous to our students." Associate General Counsel Carlos Garcia said when the university learned about the nature of the party, it was forced to act. Last year a Hanszen freshman passed out and hit his head after drinking 11 shots of tequila in less than two hours. He was taken to the hospital and got eight stitches on his forehead. In 1991, a freshman was hospitalized after Tequila Night with a blood alcohol content of 0.25 after drinking 16 shots of tequila. Hutchinson stressed that the cancellation of Tequila Night will not affect the current alcohol policy. "As long as we abide by the alcohol policy, and by we, I mean everybody in the Rice community, then the alcohol policy will continue to be the rule that we follow," said Hutchinson, who is also a master at Wiess College. "The only thing that will hurt the alcohol policy is flagrant violation of it." Garcia said he thinks the alcohol policy puts responsibility on students. "I think it treats the students as fully responsible parties in this whole dialogue on the rules on alcohol," he said. "By and large, the students respond to that positively. But in the situations where students go beyond the line that they themselves have helped us draw, the university is compelled to do something about it. I think this was just one of those situations." The letter to Hanszen students also said the cancellation of the party was "in response to the article in last year's Thresher and the subsequent discussions." Garcia said the party came into question because of its nature and history, not because of last year's Thresher article about the Hanszen freshman being injured. Hanszen students have varying views on the party. "It's advocating underage drinkers," Hanszen freshman Elena Chan said. "It's just another opportunity for people to act really stupid and drunk." Hanszen senior Tom Miller said he thought the event was a good introduction to alcohol, especially since freshmen are going to drink at other parties anyway. "Freshman Tequila Night provided a relatively controlled, though competitive, environment for this experience to occur while surrounded by advisers and friends that were ready to take care of drinkers," Miller said. The controversy surrounding Tequila Night reminded some Hanszen students of the discussion in the past two years about Night of Decadence. NOD is an official Wiess College party that has been criticized for its sexual nature and for the student drinking surrounding the event. Hutchinson emphasized that the situation surrounding NOD is not comparable to that surrounding Tequila Night. "NOD is different because NOD is in fact a registered university event," Hutchinson said. "The university takes all due diligence to make sure that our students are safe, that our policies are followed, that underage drinking doesn't take place, that students are not endangered, and that if students wind up in a situation where their health is at risk, we are in a position where we can take care of them. "Tequila Night didn't meet any of those conditions because it's an unregistered party," he said. Hutchinson stressed that the decision to cancel the event was made to protect students. "The university cares about its students, cares about their health and safety, and cares in every way that students treat one another responsibly," Hutchinson said. "We're concerned that this would have been an irresponsible event for the health and safety of our students. And that's our biggest concern."
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