This March, celebrating Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day by drinking before class could leave you with more than a hangover; you could also end up with a ticket home. Due to policies recently enacted by Chancellor Herman, showing up to class intoxicated or disrupting instruction in any way on Unofficial would now constitute grounds for dismissal from the University.

“The Chancellor charged a task force to look at what our responses should be, and a report was issued in January with recommendations on what we should do this year,” Peg Rawles, associate chancellor, said. “There was support for increased enforcement of all state laws, local regulations and the Student Code.”

Rawles also said that this year would see an increased police presence on campus in order to crack down on students who decide to drink, especially those under the legal age. Additionally, some administrators and faculty will be called upon to monitor classrooms, academic buildings and the Quad.

These tightened regulations were spurred by the death of a University alumna last year, damage to buildings and disruption of the academic mission, Rawles said.

“I think we are approaching this with a positive mindset,” Rawles said. “We know it is a minority of students who cause problems.”

Some students, including Student Body President Ryan Ruzic, senior in LAS, feel that Herman is taking things too far.

“I think it’s outrageous,” Ruzic said. “The University needs to realize that they will never get rid of Unofficial, so they need to focus on making things safer and not getting rid of our holiday.”

Ruzic, who serves on the City of Champaign’s Liquor Advisory Commission as well as a committee for student discipline, feels that Herman’s decision may be too punitive. While students were consulted before the Chancellor’s final decision was made, Ruzic said that faculty members were often able to outvote their student counterparts on relevant committees.

Rawles said that both the Faculty and Student Senate made their feelings known in separate resolutions, but Ruzic contends that faculty members had a stronger voice.

“The University’s role should be education, and they should be using education to deal with this problem,” Ruzic said. “Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be doing that.”

Thousands of students have organized themselves into pro-Unofficial groups on Facebook.com, the social networking site, and seem to be planning a traditional celebration despite Herman’s new policy.

“Basically, the streets need to be flooded with drunks by 10 a.m.,” one student wrote on the wall of one of the largest Unofficial groups.

“It is very laughable that the university or the City of Champaign thinks they can do anything about Unofficial,” wrote another. “People will just pregame longer.”

Some students agree with the University’s new policies, however, and intend to comply with the new regulations.

“I think (the new policy) is appropriate,” said Joe Kim, sophomore in Business. “I mean, it’s tradition, but not everybody participates in Unofficial. To disrupt class is excessive.”

With the University’s efforts and recent moves taken by community leaders to try and curb underage drinking, it is unclear what Unofficial 2007 will bring.

“The event is repugnant to what we need to do on a day of instruction,” Rawles said. “However, we believe that most students respect themselves and act responsibly. What we owe the serious students on campus and the instructional staff is to have as little disruption in the classroom or lab as possible.”