<p>I graduated from Drew in the late 1990s, and I visited Drew last week for the first time in 5 or 6 years, and I was shocked to hear that there had been drastic social changes at Drew. The school has gone from treating students like adults to being a police state in terms of its alcohol and dorm access policies.</p>
<p>When I attended Drew, the college had a fairly lenient alcohol policy , and allowed students to access any residence hall to visit friends. Drew was never a party school, but on most weekends you used to be able to find a party, and there were a lot of student-run social activities (e.g., Tent Weekend). </p>
<p>Now the college issues hundreds and hundreds of tickets to students each year for alcohol violations, including some of dubious legitimacy (e.g., if one person at a party is underage, everyone at the party gets ticketed). I looked on the US Department of Education website, and Drew issue more disciplinary proceedings for alcohol violations than almost any other college in the state, even though Drew is one of the smallest colleges in the state. </p>
<p>Many of the traditional social events no longer exist because of these policies. I was even more blown away when I heard that students returning after 8 P.M. cannot get into their own residence hall without going to Public Safety. Imagine if you work in the evenings, and come home at 8-9 pm, and you have to call to be let into your building. </p>
<p>Does anyone know what brought about these changes?</p>
<p>Geez, are you sure you were at Drew? Although Drew is no Penn State in terms of the party scene, there are always parties at Drew, mostly small, but usually a few larger ones as well. I am a student here and have no problem in finding a party on the weekend.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that there is some social life. I had heard that the University had really cracked down on students, and that several traditional Drew events, like Tent Weekend, no longer existed because of college’s policies. I have a few questions for anyone who is currently a student a Drew.</p>
<p>(1) Do lots of students get in trouble for alcohol violations? Based on statistics posted on the Drew website ([Statistics</a> | Public Safety | Drew University](<a href=“http://www.drew.edu/Safety/statistics]Statistics”>Annual Fire Safety and Security Report/Clery Statistics | Drew University)), in a three year period, Drew initiated 1153 disciplinary actions for alcohol violations. This number is unusually high considering that there are less than 2000 undergrads at Drew. I attended Drew from 1995 to 1999, and I could count on my fingers the total number of times anyone ever got cited for an alcohol violation.</p>
<p>(2) What exactly is the policy regarding access to residence halls? Can a student enter another residence hall on their own, or does someone have to let them in? Does Public Safety need to let you into your own residence hall if you come back at night?</p>
<p>(3) What events still take place at Drew? I know Tent Weekend is gone. Does 99 Nights still exist? How about Hoyt Halloween?</p>
<p>Drew, a police state? Ha, good one!</p>
<p>Things have most def changed since you were in school. Because of liability issues, you would be hard pressed to find a college in the US where individuals without keys, codes, etc would be able to access a dorm they don’t live in.</p>
<p>Cadbury,</p>
<p>I was asking a question about the extent of the changes to Drew’s social life and campus policies, and I would have like a more reasonable answer. In the late 1990s, we did use keys to access residence halls. Every student had a key to their room, and a universal key which opened the door to any residence hall. Non-students could not just enter a residence hall unless someone let them in. At the time I was graduating, there was discussion about moving from keys to swipe cards. Whether you use a key or swipe card, it is fairly common at colleges for students to have access to other residence halls so that they can visit people.</p>
<p>Hey dwain. First of all it’s hard to take your questions seriously when you start off by calling Drew a “police state”. I stand by my original “Ha!” on this.</p>
<p>Then you go on to say: “I was even more blown away when I heard that students returning after 8 P.M. cannot get into their own residence hall without going to Public Safety.” Where have you heard such nonsense???</p>
<p>Moving beyond that stuff…As I understand it, Tent Night is in fact gone but 99 nights and Hoyt Halloween continue. There are also some newer traditions that have come online since your time at Drew.</p>