Student communities will have to annually review their own rules regarding alcohol use in residences, to the satisfaction of Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Centre for Student Communities (CSC).
This was according to Pieter Kloppers, director of the CSC at SU.
SU’s decision to temporarily ban the use of alcohol in student communities from January 2020, was due to instances of binge drinking amongst SU students, the death of a SU student and the increase in gender-based violence, Kloppers told MatieMedia.
Pieter Kloppers is the director of the Center for Student Communities (CSC). The CSC operates under Stellenbosch University’s Department for Student Affairs. Their job is to ensure that students have a holistic life and learning experience in their residences and clusters. PHOTO: Twitter / Pieter Kloppers.
“The emphasis of the ban was never to take away alcohol. The emphasis was placed on starting a conversation about how alcohol can be used in healthy ways in student communities,” Kloppers said.
The prim committee met in February and decided that each student community should propose a memorandum on how they would promote and apply responsible alcohol use, said Ingrid Heydenrych, outgoing chairperson of the prim committee at SU.
According to Heydenrych, the university never gave clear instructions to the committee when the alcohol ban was introduced.
Lwazi Pakade, a member of the 2018/2019 Student Representative Council, talks to eNCA about the alcohol ban that SU implemented. Pakade believes that it was wrong of the university to make such a decision without the involvement of students – as this decision affects students the most. VIDEO: YouTube / eNCA.
“The result was that the prim committee had to take the lead in determining the way forward for student communities – with the hope that the memorandums would eventually be accepted,” she said.
At this stage, the prim committee has an “umbrella” alcohol policy drafted, Heydenrych said.
“Each student community’s individual policies must now function under this ‘umbrella’,” Heydenrych added.
Eendrag men’s residence has already submitted their memorandum* to the prim committee, said Alten du Plessis, outgoing primarius of Eendrag.
Pieter Kloppers talks to Arehan Brand on Kompas, Brand’s show on RSG. They talk about alcohol use among young people – with the emphasis on the temporary alcohol ban that has been put in place at Stellenbosch University. CLIP: JC Landman / RSG.
“Vague guidelines were provided and that encourages student communities to only include the minimum things in their memorandums – which is not really the purpose of the process,” Du Plessis said.
Just making any rules – strict or not – does not really change the attitudes of people or the alcohol culture, Du Plessis added.
“If one has adequate engagement where one can change the value of a community – those which the community sees as acceptable – then one can bring about the right long-term cultural change. That must be the goal,” Du Plessis said.
Ingrid Heydenrych is the current chair of Stellenbosch University’s prim committee. Previously, Heydenrych was also the primaria of the US ladies’ residence, Irene. PHOTO: Supplied / Ingrid Heydenrych.
According to Kloppers, the proposals of the student communities will be studied to draw up the overarching alcohol rules for SU student communities.
“Each student community will then have to draw up rules for that community, which fits within the overarching rules,” he said. “So, the rules could differ between student communities.”
If student communities do not set their own rules, the use of alcohol in these communities would be deemed a violation of the university’s rules, Kloppers said.
*Please note that this memorandum is not binding to Eendrag men’s residence and is subject to change. Student communities’ memoranda may differ. MEMORANDUM: Supplied / Alten du Plessis.