College Student Party Guide

Student Party Guide Hosting a responsible party

Serving alcohol

You can be held legally responsible for the behavior of your guests’ when they leave your party.
You are responsible for ensuring that those under 21 are not provided alcohol. It is not enough to have a “No Under 21” sign at your party. If you are caught serving an underage individual you could be charged by police.
It is illegal to charge money at your party (selling cups, selling wrist band, taking donations, selling beer, etc.).

In order to prevent problems, create a guest list and include only people you know.
Talk with roommates about when and who will end the party.
Select an individual (the monitor) to remain sober during the party. This person will be responsible for turning away uninvited guests, enforcing the house rules, talking with the police if they show up, and watching for drunk drivers.
Lock up your valuables and rooms that you don’t want others in.
Notify your neighbors that you are having a party.
Discuss and purchase food and non-alcoholic drinks you will be serving.
Plan what you will do to slow down a guest that is drinking too much.
Educate yourself about local ordinances for noise, mass gatherings, and alcohol at www.normal.org/Gov/Legal/OrdinanceViolations.asp or http://www.cityblm.org/code.asp?show=codemain.

Make sure to check IDs and ensure that those drinking are of legal drinking age.
Monitor your guest’s alcohol consumption and intervene to either slow them down or cease serving them if drinking too much.
In case of emergency call 911 immediately.
To avoid having the police called, monitor noise levels, parking, trespassing, littering, public urination, and other possible violations.
If police do arrive the monitor should be the first person the officer sees.
Do not interfere with the officers and follow all police instructions.

The monitor should turn away new guests.
Turn on the lights.
Turn off the music.
Stop serving alcohol.
Make sure that intoxicated guests are not driving. Have them sleep over or call a taxi.
To help prevent excessive noise, encourage guests to leave in small groups of three or four.

Clean the trash, cups, and bottles from your yard and the neighbors’.
Talk to your neighbors about the party and determine if they experienced any problems. If they did, discuss how the problem can be resolved.

As mentioned, you are responsible for your guests. Here are signs that indicate alcohol poisoning, which, if untreated, can lead to death: