Will college events dry up?
Yorgun Marcel had his ducks in a row.
The associate director of student activities at the College of Santa Fe was prepared for the college's annual Quadstock music festival on May 5. The bands were booked. The promotional campaign finished. The proper permits filed. But then the phone rang.
Gary Tomada, director of the state's Alcohol and Gaming Division, was on the line. Tomada informed Marcel
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that the permit that would allow the Santa Fe Brewing Company to operate a beer garden at Quadstock had been denied.
"I was at a loss for words," Marcel says. "Last year, we did everything the exact same way and we not only didn't have any problems obtaining the permit, we didn't have any [alcohol-related] problems at the event."
But college campuses have recently become a target of the state's expansive efforts to combat DWI and escalate liquor control measures [Outtakes, May 2: "
"]. According to Brian Hagan, spokesman for the state Regulation and Licensing Department, the department has looked at alcohol sales on campuses "very skeptically" ever since New Mexico State University student Christopher Berry died of alcohol poisoning in March 2005.
"Whether it's hard alcohol or beer, we don't believe that it is beneficial to encourage drinking on campus," Hagan says.
The permit process also tightened earlier this year when the NMSU Board of Regents explored allowing alcohol sales at basketball games. Gov. Bill Richardson publicly voiced his disapproval and NMSU dropped the pursuit.
"I support the governor's position of not allowing alcohol sales at university-sanctioned events that involve students," Bob Gallagher, vice chairman of the NMSU regents and president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, says. "But I would be opposed to a complete blanket of no alcohol sales on campuses…there are a lot of other events that can benefit a college or university."
Hagan says the Alcohol and Gaming Division is receptive to allowing alcohol permits for "cultural events," such as concerts that are not directed primarily at students.
Marcel insists that Quadstock is a communitywide event and that precautionary measures were in place-such as security guards and ending alcohol sales before the event culminated-to ensure responsible drinking. Brian Lock, president of the Santa Fe Brewing Company, also was stunned by the denial.
"We've done Quadstock for the past three years and have never had a problem," Lock says. "Needless to say, it was a big surprise. I would have liked to have at least known the policy was in effect two weeks before the event instead of two days." Lock filed for the permit April 20, well before the application deadline.
Hagan defends the timing of the decision. "There is nothing in the regulations that specifies how long we have to consider a permit or how close to the event we can deny it," he says. "We felt that we dealt with the request expeditiously and that [Lock] received adequate notice…"
Lock says he is optimistic that his permit to serve at the upcoming New Mexico Jazz Workshop blues festivals at CSF will be approved because they're not college-sponsored events. Besides, he didn't lose much business considering frigid temperatures kept many people away from Quadstock.
"Honestly, the weather had more of an impact and that kind of deflected the issue," Marcel says. "But those people who did show up, one of their first questions was, 'Where's the beer garden?'"
Marcel plans to consult CSF lawyers about the heightened scrutiny of alcohol permits on campus and assess how it will affect future events at the school.
"I think it's a very sad situation that they're basically targeting individuals on the sole basis that they're pursuing an education," Marcel says. "We did our homework, we were prepared and I think it's just a very negative outlook when you're just expecting the worst out of people."
