Olivia Miller-Johnson | omillerjohns@mail.smcvt.edu | Staff Writer
“There has been something missing on campus for over two decades,” said Luke Maddalone, ’25. “A symbol which has been present throughout our school’s history. My friends, I am speaking about kegs.”
Maddalone’s effort to bring back kegs centers around amplifying the nightlife and culture at St. Michael’s College. The Student Government Association (SGA) Executive Board and Senate passed a motion on Tuesday, Nov. 19 for kegs to be reinstated. It will soon be in the hands of the St. Michael’s College Board of Trustees.
In the 1980s, St. Michael’s College allowed kegs on campus. A 1994 publication of The Defender reported Rathskeller pub, formerly on the second floor of Alliot was closed indefinitely following a car accident.
The driver of the car and its five passengers has been drinking at the Rat the night of the accident,” reported Andrew Flint, staff writer for The Defender.
The 21-year-old senior injured in the crash was paralyzed from the chest down.
Though not with the school at the time, Dawn Ellinwood, dean of Student Affairs, heard a similar story of the accident. “It might have been connected, but a lot of colleges went keg free,” Ellinwood said. “ I would assume it’s around that same time.”
Maddalone and other students know overturning the ban on kegs is an uphill battle. “The policy proposal has a few rules in it because we recognize that if there weren’t rules, there was absolutely no way that the trustees would even consider lifting the keg ban,” said SGA Secretary of Policy, Elliot Jordan, ’25.
SGA Vice President Aidan Finnegan, ’25 worked with Maddalone to craft a detailed list of stipulations for the return of kegs. Similar to the current on-campus party policy, students would register the keg, and agree to be liable for breaking any rules associated with having a keg on campus.
Additionally, one person from the house hosting the keg would be the liaison to St. Michael’s College Public Safety in the event of an incident.
Other stipulations require all members of the household to be over the age of 21. Jordan understands concerns underage students might have easier access to a keg. To address this, the kegs would only be allowed inside homes.
“Then no one under the age of 21 is obviously allowed to be served alcohol by the homeowners,” said Jordan. “That’s not really up to us like that’s federal law.”
The policy takes into account the potential for excessive drinking. The E-Board proposed that the alcohol choice in the keg cannot exceed more than five percent alcohol by volume.
“We don’t want people not really realizing how much they drink, because it’s pretty different when you’re pulling out of a keg versus a can,” said Jordan.
In the executive board meeting on Nov. 12, students brought up how having a keg outside the door of a 300s townhouse might be nice.
However, policy writers think the best chance of having kegs approved to be back on campus is by leaving them inside, where liabilities decrease.
“You don’t want it outside where someone can run up and grab it to their friends and run away, or where it’s just easy to walk up as an underage person and take it,” said Jordan.
The historic lively culture of St. Michael’s College is why Maddalone proposed kegs in the first place. He wants to see more people out and about, interacting.
“Every single communal space here is barely used; people are preferring to just stay inside their townhouses,” said Maddalone.
Without housing on North Campus, students driving home under the influence are less of a risk; only eight percent of the student population lives off-campus.
“We have Pub Safe, we have RDs (resident directors) that are constantly looking out for students, making sure that nothing dumb happens,” Maddalone said.
Maddalone, a member of the men’s rugby team, believes kegs will also help with the glass found in the 300s field after late-night festivities.
“Granted there would be a lot of plastic cups, but it would be a lot easier to clean up than shattered glass bottles,” said Maddalone.
While Maddalone hopes the keg policy will get a green light from the board of trustees, he has something bigger in his mind. Rathskellers, German for ‘beer hall,’ was the on-campus bar open from ’79 to ’86. If kegs are the small fish, a campus bar is the big one.
“There’s like an idea, something called the third space. I forgot the whole definition. It’s like a community,” said Maddalone. “For people to come together, do something, and it would create a great environment.”
“I think it needs to be explored again,” said Ellinwood. “Absolutely.” While she doesn’t have the final say, she said a proposal from the SGA would start the conversation.
Parties at St. Michael’s College have been documented in The Hilltopper, the annual yearbook, for many years, including those after the ban on kegs.
Joe Kurdle, ’98, recalled a late-night memory from his freshman year when a student in his dorm vomited all over the communal bathroom. “[They] must have been drinking, wine coolers or something… It was this pink-like vomit everywhere,” Kurdle said.
Kurdle’s wife, Jenn, ’02, added her thoughts to the conversation on St. Michael’s College’s late-night culture. “You can binge drink without kegs, we’re proof of that,” she said.
In the late 90s, the school provided safe transportation to those wanting off-campus evening experiences.
“[There was] a dedicated driver that would cart people down and then pick them up at certain times of a certain location or something,” said Kurdle. “It was sanctioned by the school. They were hired by the school.”
Maddalone believes it is time for the community to grow again.
“We have some strong regulations around how to bring back kegs. We want it to be safe and respectful,” said Jarrett Sweet, SGA president. “But also, we think it’s important to allow nightlife to re-emerge at St. Mikes.”
The policy is on the desks of the board of trustees and the president leaving Maddalone and company waiting for the next steps.
Sweet met with the president’s cabinet to discuss the proposal for kegs to be back on campus. “They didn’t say no, but they didn’t say yes,” Sweet said.
“If people want to have different types of parties, let’s talk about that,” Ellinwood said. “We’re open to that, but I can’t plan a party for you…nor do you want me to.”
“This is college,” Maddalone said. “It’s inevitable. It’s going to happen. Students are going to be drinking.”