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George Fox University reconsidering its alcohol policy |
Board of directors forms an ad hoc
committee to review the university's employee `lifestyle statements' |
By Gunnar
Olson, Newberg Graphic reporter
E-mail Gunnar at
golson@eaglenewspapers.com |
Employees and
students of George Fox University may someday be able to raise a
toast to the end of a long-standing ban on drinking.
However, not everyone at the Christian university in Newberg thinks
that a change to the tradition of alcohol abstinence would be worth
celebrating.
“This has been a sensitive issue for 100 years,” George Fox
President David Brandt said in an interview Friday.
The university confirmed in a statement Friday that the board of
directors was reviewing its “lifestyle statement” for employees.
This includes George Fox’s ban on drinking alcohol.
Meanwhile, students at George Fox are making a pitch to the
administration for similar change. Brad Lau, vice president of
Student Life, said last week that students were working on a
proposal that would let students of drinking age — currently not
allowed to consume alcohol under school policy — have a beer or
glass of wine. Their proposal would need final approval from the
board of directors, according to Lau. Legal drinking age in Oregon
is 21, or roughly the equivalent age of a sophomore or junior.
Neither Brandt nor George Fox spokesman Rob Felton would confirm
whether the board was specifically considering doing away with the
no-alcohol policy for employees. However, they also declined to deny
that the board was considering it.
The news was broke in the Friday edition of the student newspaper,
The Crescent. In the days following, The Graphic called or left
messages for nearly every university official attributed in the
Crescent article, as well as with others who weren’t. However, few
would comment, and those who did shied away from saying much. Brandt
said he wouldn’t speak about the board’s discussions until it had
taken an action, if any.
The board of directors broached the subject of employee lifestyle
statements at its meeting in October. The board formed an ad hoc
committee to explore the issue. The board meets again in March.
The student newspaper reported that the board approached the
no-alcohol policy following a July university-sponsored golf
tournament in Aloha. A fund-raiser, the university gave away prize
baskets that included bottles of wine, the paper reported, citing an
associate director with the university’s development services.
Ed Higgins, a literature professor, told The Crescent that many
faculty members felt the gift baskets with wine in them contradicted
the spirit of the lifestyle statements.
The paper also reported that the university is surveying faculty
about the alcohol policy, including such questions as: “Do
you live according to the alcohol policy of the university?” and
“Should we change our alcohol policy?”
A no-alcohol policy has been in place at the school since it was
founded as Friends Pacific Academy in 1885 and has continued for 121
years, Felton said. The policy has its roots in Christianity. The
agreement says employees must to abstain from alcohol — as well as
tobacco, illegal drugs and gambling — “to relate in a Christian
manner to the present world.”
The city of Newberg itself has a past of barring alcohol. Its
prohibition of alcohol ended in the 1960s.
Reaction to the possible change to George Fox’s alcohol policy was
varied among the students and faculty in the student commons area
Tuesday morning.
Sophomore Joe Hertel, a 21-year-old engineering major, said the
rules against drinking set George Fox apart morally from other
schools. However, he said faculty should have the choice of whether
to drink, and he said the no-alcohol policy should apply only to
students living on campus.
“I think it’s a good rule, as long as it doesn’t include students
who live off campus,” said Hertel, who said he lives off campus.
Students Janelle Dittus and Aaron Sherwood (who goes by his last
name only) were in agreement on the school’s policy banning faculty
from drinking: The reasons behind the policy are good, but it would
be more meaningful if the faculty abstained voluntarily. They said
students would be more likely to follow their example.
They also felt students of age should be allowed to drink.
“There’s more inspiration (among students) to drink because they’re
not supposed to,” said Sherwood, 23, a senior business major.
“It’s rebellion,” added Dittus, a 19-year-old senior psychology
major. She is also a residence advisor and said she sees a lot of
rebellion among the students in the dormitories.
Faculty member Manfred Tschan, 50, said he is in his 19th year with
George Fox and that abiding by the drinking policy has always been
easy. Tschan, who teaches health and personal fitness, said the
alcohol policy should be applied the same to the faculty as it is to
students, regardless of what the school does.
“If it gets reversed for faculty ... then I do believe students who
are of drinking age should have the same choice,” he said.
His preference, however, would be to not allow staff or faculty to
drink, not for the reasons the university gives but because it makes
life easier for him as head coach of the men’s soccer team. |
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From
Feb. 1, 2006, Newberg Graphic
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