The Union Advisory Board passed a compromise yesterday that would end the ban on late-night socials in the Stamp Student Union as long as student groups limit the number of tickets sold to non-students.
The policy still needs Union Director Gretchen Metzelaars’ approval, but that will probably come within the next 10 days, she wrote in an e-mail to The Diamondback. If finalized, the compromise would lift a ban on events ending after midnight that union officials put in place in January after fights broke out at several past events.
“I do feel that they took the student body into consideration when they came up with the implementation of this,” said Daniel Lewkowicz, co-founder of Community Roots, which “works to unite the different ethnic communities at the University of Maryland,” according to the organization’s web site.
But Lewkowicz stressed the new policy will only work if the union keeps the channels of communication open, both so student groups can provide feedback on the new policy and also so the surrounding community can fully understand their access to union venues.
Some group leaders contend the policy inappropriately targets student groups whose events have a history of violence and that limiting the number of non-students won’t increase safety. Some say the union should hire more security instead of restricting student groups.
“Based on my experiences, I can tell you a lot of organizations will have a problem with this,” said Kasra Razmjou, president-elect of the Iranian Students’ Foundation. “There’s nothing that makes a non-student more violent than a UMD student.”Under the new policy, groups who rent space in the union using a student discount must not sell more than one-third of their tickets to non-students, who Metzelaars blamed for many of the problems. It costs a student group $625 to rent the Grand Ballroom for an entire day, compared with the $2,500 fee for non-student groups, she said.
“It’s certainly widely documented that [violence at events] have been by far, the vast majority, non-student problems,” Board Chairman Tad Greenleaf added.
Other student leaders said they were bothered by a clause that states student groups whose events have a history of violence must may have to pay for more security in the future.
Razmjou argued adding security is the best way to curb violence at late-night events, a move the Board avoided to keep event costs down.
“In the end, [groups are] going to get the money from the school anyway,” said Razmjou, who is a member of the SGA finance committee.
Increased security “was a solution that did seem to make sense to me, but the additional costs do seem to become prohibitive,” Greenleaf said. The Board was set to decide on the plan on Friday but postponed the vote until over the weekend.
Greenleaf also questioned the effectiveness of additional officers in light of many students’ complaints that police do little to maintain order. “Unilaterally increasing the number of police officers across the board certainly helps once incidents start, but it’s not necessarily a preventative step,” he said.
The compromise would also require student group representatives to meet with a union staff member and a security officer before finalizing a late-night event. Non-students would also have to sign in to events with identification and arrive with students.
The compromise is a positive move in spite of the concerns, Greenleaf said.
“Is this going to solve every safety issue for every event going forward? No … Hopefully with this, groups will have a tangible document they can turn to,” he said. “Hopefully it will be a step in the right direction.”
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