Stanford changes its student alcohol policy after Brock Turner case

Stanford University has banned all hard alcohol from undergraduate parties after drawing national attention earlier this year for a sexual assault case perpetrated by former student Brock Turner.

In a memo to students Monday, the university announced that it was banning hard alcohol at all on-campus parties, with the exception of mixed drinks at events hosted in graduate student dorms or by student organizations.

“We must create a campus community that allows for alcohol to be a part of the social lives of some of our students, but not to define the social and communal lives of all of our students,” vice provost for student affairs Greg Boardman wrote.

The new policy, which sprang out of conversations started shortly before Turner was found guilty of sexual assault in March, also prohibits alcohol containers larger than 750mL in undergraduate dorms. The only alcoholic drinks allowed in those areas — for those 21 or older — are beer and wine.

Turner, a former student at the university, was found guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman during an encounter in January 2015. Turner was arrested after he fled from two graduate students who found him on top of the woman outside a fraternity. In the case that followed Turner insisted the encounter was consensual and blamed his intoxication for what he said was poor decision making. Despite being convicted on all three counts, Turner — and the university — made headlines in June when he received a lenient six-month sentence in jail.

Judge Aaron Persky cited Turner’s age and clean record in handing down the sentence, but the victim in the case released an impact statement that went viral, calling on Turner to acknowledge the severity of his crimes instead of blaming alcohol.

“My damage was internal, unseen, I carry it with me,” she wrote in a 12-page statement detailing her trauma after the assault. “You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today.”

Turner’s father was in turn widely censured for calling his son’s assault “20 minutes of action” while arguing for his son’s probation. Several online petitions also started a recall campaign against Persky, who recused himself from hearing another sex crime case this week because of the Turner case.

Turner is due to be released from jail Sept. 2.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 10:04 AM with the headline "Stanford changes its student alcohol policy after Brock Turner case."