Partial Ban On Dormitory Alcohol Ok’d

The state Senate on Monday voted to ban drinking in some public college dorms, after students and college presidents squawked about the original plan for dry campuses.

The new “Ban Lite” bill would require colleges to set aside whole dorms or floors of dorms as offlimits to drinking. Students could be guaranteed a room in a “dry” dorm if they so requested.

Colleges would be expected to enforce the partial ban vigorously and to provide students an avenue of complaint if revelers interrupt studies or sleep.

The prime sponsor, Sen. Brad Owen, D-Shelton, said he’d rather ban drinking from all campus housing, as his original bill set out to do. But he said this is the best he can do this year, given the opposition of the student lobby and university administrators to a stiffer bill.

The measure, a rewrite of SB5605, passed 46-1, with only Seattle Democrat Dwight Pelz opposed. The measure now goes to the House for likely passage.

Colleges say an outright ban would be too tough to police because courts have forbidden monitors from entering student rooms without warrants.