Research by the Trimbos Institute and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), which didn’t have a very high response rate (23 percent for TU/e and 11 percent nationwide), showed that 9.2 percent of TU/e students can be classified as excessive drinkers, which comes down to fourteen drinks a week for women and more than 21 for men. Another 16.3 percent can be categorized as heavy drinkers, i.e. women having four drinks and men having six in one sitting, at least once a week. The university wants to reduce these percentages for both groups by at least two percent by 2030. The Trimbos and RIVM research didn’t cover alcohol use among TU/e staff.

Negative effects

The university’s reasons for trying to reduce those percentages are listed in the policy document (only available on intranet) that was discussed in last week’s University Council meeting. They include the negative effect of drinking on the university community at large. At an individual level, there’s the risk of violent incidents, traffic accidents, sexual misconduct and addiction. When alcohol plays a dominant role in social life, students and staff members from other cultures or countries are also said to feel less safe and included.

According to the memo, the student organizations that have their own bars are the ones who’ve drafted the covenant. TU/e has study associations with an on-campus bar, sports clubs with bars outside TU/e premises, and three social student associations and Christian student association Ichthus with their own clubhouses in the city center. Those who drafted the covenant therefore say it’s not really possible to apply a one-size-fits-all approach. Customization is key to make sure the measures are taken seriously and are actually implemented.

Resistance

Policy officer Jim Bergmans was involved in the creation of the covenant on behalf of Education & Student Affairs (ESA). He says it’s crucial that the covenant was drafted by the student organizations themselves. Bergmans: “When we started working on this a few years ago, we met with a lot of resistance from the student community. Students thought the university was going to unilaterally tell the associations what to do in this respect, which caused unrest. The covenant and its implementation are now really in the hands of the students. They set the rules, they are currently putting together a core team that will guide the implementation, and they are also the ones that will ultimately enforce the measures. They really feel like it’s their responsibility, so it’s not mere window-dressing.”

Gabriël Nusselder, president of study association Thor and closely involved in the creation of the covenant, wholeheartedly agrees. He says concerns about certain groups of students that drink too much are shared by the associations, so he thinks it’s a good thing to introduce rules to mitigate this. He does hasten to add that board members of associations that have their own bar, as well as the bar personnel, are already actively working on this. Nusselder: “In any case they are obliged to obtain the IVA certificate (proving that they have been instructed on responsible alcohol use), like all other voluntary bartenders in the Netherlands. It might be a good idea to scale this up in the future, by organizing in-person meetings on campus to provide information to bar personnel, including on how to deal with problem drinkers. The regular drills for Emergency Response Team (BHV) members at our university serve as an example in this regard.”

Beer police

The Executive Board will also be signing the covenant. At last week’s University Council meeting, Executive Board President Robert-Jan Smits said this topic is very high on the Board’s agenda. A date for the signing is currently being sought in October, according to Bergmans. The new measures will be implemented in the next few months. Nusselder: “Once all relevant parties have signed the covenant, it technically enters into effect right away. But our aim is to gradually introduce it over the course of the next few months at all of the bars on campus and at the bars of the social students associations and Ichthus, and, for example, the bar in the boathouse of Thêta.” According to Bergmans at ESA, this is also something that’s really left up to the student organizations themselves, or rather: to the core team that’s currently being put together. “We at ESA won’t be going around like some kind of beer police to check if the associations really only start serving alcohol from 4:30 PM onwards.”

Nusselder says the FSE (Federation of Study Associations Eindhoven) will partially take care of the enforcing, “because the FSE is already running annual checks on other affairs the associations with their own bars must have in order, such as the validity of their liquor licenses.” But monitoring will mostly be done by the core team itself, according to Nusselder. This core team will be composed in the next few weeks, and Nusselder says it’s currently being looked into which parties should be represented. “Will the team consist of representatives of the umbrella organizations or of the various associations? The number of team members shouldn’t be too high, as that won’t make for efficient decision-making, but all parties should feel represented.”

The issue on which Cursor reported in September of last year, the risk of associations making too much profit if they have to charge at least one euro for a beer and getting into trouble with the tax agency as a result, hasn’t been solved yet. “This problem was definitely discussed while drafting the covenant,” Bergmans says, “and it was decided that TU/e’s Finance & Control department will shortly start looking for a solution together with legal experts.”

Catering outlets

TU/e's Student Sports Centre is also committed to the covenant, which means that the sports canteen will only serve alcohol from half past four in the afternoon on working days. This will not be the case on weekends, Bergmans says, "when certain sports events take place at the SSC". Bergmans and Nusselder hope that at some point, De Zwarte Doos, Hubble and the University Club will also join the covenant and subscribe to the corresponding rules. “But those catering outlets are run by external operators on separate contracts, so as a university we can’t control them,” says Bergmans. “Once those contracts expire we’ll certainly talk to those operators about this. And we also want to talk to supermarket Spar, where alcohol is also available before half past five, to see what is possible there.” Nusselder agrees it would be a good thing for the three catering outlets on campus and Spar to join the covenant in the future.