On Friday, March 10, the Office of General Counsel amended a prior university regulation regarding the possession, service and consumption of alcohol.

In the summary note, J. Michael Rollo, the vice president of Student Affairs, wrote, “This regulation is amended to reflect revised terms and the current application and approval process for the possession, service and consumption of alcohol on campus.”

The revision of the regulation focuses primarily on compressing the information included in the prior regulation. While the original document spanned six pages, this revision has reduced the length to two pages and has eliminated some extraneous subsections.

FGCU’s policies regarding alcohol consumption remain consistent with laws passed at the federal and local level. Many of the rules the regulation establishes align with laws normally set in place for Florida residents.The Lee County Open Container Law banning students and adults from being in possession of an open container of alcohol while on public property is especially prevalent in the document.

The university takes extra measures to set in place a process that governs how outside vendors may provide college students with alcohol and details the necessary precautions that must be taken by students and servers to ensure that those below the legal drinking age do not have access to alcohol.

The approval process students and outside vendors must follow before planning to provide alcohol on campus remains essentially the same from the process detailed in the prior regulation. In order to serve alcohol on campus, students must submit an application that has to be approved by the vice president for Administrative Services and Finance, the vice president of Student Affairs, the president or by an alternate designee. Only after all administrative bodies grant approval can alcohol be provided.

As articulated in the general statement, the regulation primarily serves to remind individuals that “they are responsible for their behavior while on university premises.” A violations section details the repercussions students may face if their actions go against the university’s alcohol polices and upset FGCU’s community values.