One party will cause the driver's license suspension of a handful of students for underage drinking charges

http://www.biconews.com/?p=24137
By Michael Novinson
Multimedia Editor


Milkshakes brought nearly 40 Bi-Co students to Cadbury’s yard Saturday afternoon for the 3rd annual Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt, but those milkshakes also attracted an unwelcome guest – the Pennsylvania State Police.
About five officers from the state’s Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement crashed the party at Haverford’s Cadbury House and detained approximately 15 students, citing 9 Haverford students and two Bryn Mawr students for underage drinking.

“I hope this will set the tone for the freshmen here,” said Sgt. William N. La Torre, who commanded the police force at Cadbury. La Torre raided three Philadelphia bars suspected of selling unlicensed beer on March 11, the Thursday afternoon before Philadelphia’s Beer Weekend, and is best known in the bi-co for heading the plainclothes State Police unit that busted the Sept. 3 Lloyd Around the World party. La Torre’s liquor control office has jurisdiction over Delaware, Philadelphia and Chester counties but not Bryn Mawr, since it is located in Montgomery County.
La Torre’s office has undertaken the Staying Sober is Smart Initiative, which intends to maintain tough alcohol standards for end of the year parties through heightened enforcement of underage drinking during March and early April. The University of Pennsylvania’s Spring Fling is April 16-17, while Haverfest and May Day run from April 30 to May 2.
“The goal is to stop underage drinking before it starts,” La Torre said.
A first citation offense carries a maximum penalty of $300 and 90 days imprisonment along with a 90-day driver’s license suspension. However, it isn’t a misdemeanor and does not appear on the student’s permanent record.
It is possible for the District Attorney to place the student in an alcohol education program if they are approached pre-trial. The state police will recommend that all students cited at Cadbury become eligible for the program, according to an e-mail sent to the involved students midday Sunday by President Dr. Stephen G. Emerson ’74, Dean of Student Life Steve Watter and Director of Bi-Co Public Safety Tom King. At the completion of the program, all fines will be waived and the record will be wiped clean.
The citations at Cadbury came as a particular surprise since the house is reserved for students who want a quiet, substance free place to live and study. The Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt and Milkshake Extravaganza Facebook event created by resident Jon Witt ‘11 contains no references to drinking, promising “alcohol-free fun.” But Cadbury resident Daniel T. L. Kent ‘11 had other ideas.
Cadbury Easter Egg Hunt Founder (REDACTED) ‘09.5 told Kent that the first two Easter Egg Hunts were a little stodgy and she recommended that he loosen up the party up by providing a little alcohol. She promised Kent that she would attend the Easter Egg Hunts if alcohol was served.
“My mommies would be very proud of me,” (REDACTED) said.
Unbeknownst to the partygoers, Kent spiked the chocolate and Oreo milkshakes with Everclear, 190-proof grain alcohol not sold in Pennsylvania. Since Kent doesn’t have a drivers license, he borrowed senior and former Cadbury resident Sheba Brown’s unicycle and rode to Camden, N.J., to purchase the Everclear.
“Blame it on the [Grey] Goose [vodka, it] had me feeling loose,” Kent told The Bi-College News.
Kent confessed to the state police late Sunday regarding his role in the underage drinking citations. La Torre said Kent would be charged with supplying alcohol to minors, which is a misdemeanor offense and carries a $2,500 fine for each minor present.
Sam Gant ‘13 was leaving Saturday’s ultimate frisbee practice on Merion Field when he noticed lewd and raucous behavior on the front porch and steps of Cadbury. Gant found the scene repugnant and felt the behavior was inconsistent with Haverford’s values. When Gant noticed small children near the Duck Pond commenting on the debauchery to their parents, he was compelled to alert the police.
“I don’t want the Haverford social scene to feel like Texts from Last Night [a blog that re-posts shocking drunk texts],” said Gant, a member of JSAAPP and Honor Council. Gant said he has become mobilized against self-destructive behavior from his Customs experience, particularly the alcohol PAF and concerns about marijuana expressed by Rene Lima ‘13, Gant’s suitemate on Gummere 2/3.
The spiked milkshakes resulted in many cases of peculiar behavior. The most visible expose was documented in the Anonymous Confessions Boards thread “Henrik WTF?!,” posted at 2:38 a.m. Sunday. The original poster was subsequently revealed to be Greg Whitehill ‘13.
The post read: “I always thought Henrik Born ['13] had fine taste in wine and women. So why was he doing freaky shit with an ugly Asian chick on the front porch of Cadbury? That was some mad nasty exchange of fluids!”
The Everclear, however, had altered Whitehill’s perception – four attendees who wish to remain anonymous told The Bi-College News that the “ugly Asian chick” was actually David Lee ‘13, Born’s suitemate on Gummere 1/3. The sources wished to remain anonymous because the Customs People on 1/3, particularly Lucian Grand ‘12, have taken a very strong stance against Customs incest.
La Torre’s officers arrived at Cadbury around 3:30 p.m., 15 minutes after Gant’s phone call. They dressed as college students and interacted with partygoers for more than 10 minutes to assess the situation.
Once they confirmed the presence of underage drinking, the undercover police revealed their true identity and intervened.
“My job is to enforce the law,” La Torre said. “If that party had gone on much longer, citations would have been the least of the student’s problems.”
All students had been released by 5:15 p.m. Nobody was arrested.
La Torre said the liquor control enforcement will have no further involvement with the Cadbury case. He plans to work with Bi-Co Public Safety to avoid future underage drinking incidents.
After consulting with La Torre, King issued a campus-wide lockdown at 3:50 p.m. Saturday. As of press time, the lockdown remained in effect.