PACE aims to improve house party safety

UW–Madison’s PACE Coalition wants to make campus-area house parties safer. To do so, it is asking for help from students, landlords, student government, UW and Madison police departments, university administrators and community residents.

PACE, formerly the RWJ Project, has invited those key groups to a forum on house party safety from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, in Tripp Commons at the Memorial Union.

Members of the community are welcome to attend and share their opinions on how the issue should be addressed. PACE members will be on hand to answer questions about the group. Free pizza will be served.

PACE Director Susan Crowley says the coalition isn’t interested in shutting parties down, but instead, preventing the negative consequences of high-risk drinking, such as sexual assault, violence and property damage.

“Over the past year, we’ve talked a lot about the need to limit drink specials,” says Crowley. “But they’re only one piece of a larger puzzle. Everyone knows that house parties provide another, cheaper source of alcohol, with less supervision than bars.”

Key issues to be discussed at the forum include:

• How can the community work together to improve the safety of partygoers and their neighbors?
• Are there options for students and their neighbors when parties get out of control?
• What are the appropriate roles for education, policy and enforcement?

In addition to house parties, PACE has targeted three other major policy issues aimed at changing the environment and culture around campus alcohol. They are:

• Exploring parental notification for certain violations
• Clarifying and publicizing university policies and expectations of student conduct
• Limiting late-night drink specials