Anne Ryman

The Republic | azcentral.com

Task force recommends an end to beer kegs for tailgaters

New ASU athletic director Ray Anderson supports the ban

Beer kegs are a step closer to getting the boot from Sun Devil Stadium.

An Arizona State University Student Safety Task Force will send a draft recommendation to the Arizona Board of Regents that all kegs be banned at football tailgating parties outside the Tempe stadium. The proposed ban is part of a broader strategy to create a safer environment at games and stamp out the school's party image. Officials say kegs promote binge drinking and rowdy fan behavior.

ASU's new athletic director, Ray Anderson supports the proposal..

"We're going to have plenty of fun and it's going to be an exciting game day environment," Anderson said earlier this week when asked about the potential ban. "But bad behavior and stuff that shoos families and younger folks away, I'm not in favor of that."

An ASU official said Friday that details on the policy change still need to be worked out but that ASU is "moving in the direction" of banning kegs.

"I think we'll have some procedural and enforcement decisions made before school starts (in the fall)," said Jim Rund, a senior vice president and chairman of the task force.

Not all students are happy with the change, though. They say they will find ways to drink anyway, including switching to canned beer.

The 15-member task force is responsible for coming up with safety recommendations at the request of the regents after a series of high-profile incidents involving alcohol and ASU students over the past two years. The group discussed its draft recommendations Friday and plan to forward them to the regents, the governing body for the three state universities. The regents plan to discuss safety changes at the three universities in June. ASU will then send a final report in July to the regents that is expected to contain a number of safety recommendations.

ASU typically doesn't allow alcohol to be sold or consumed on its campuses, but there are exceptions.

Tailgating is allowed at home football games in university parking lots, with season-ticket holders allowed in five hours before kickoff during the 2013 season. Other lots open 3½ hours before the game begins. Beer and wine can be consumed by adults of legal age, but liquor is banned. Alcohol isn't supposed to be consumed once the game starts and is prohibited inside the stadium.

ASU's ban on kegs would mirror policy changes at a growing number of universities. Yale enacted a ban in 2012 after a rental truck carrying beer kegs hit and killed a woman and injured two others outside the football stadium. The University of Georgia started prohibiting kegs in 2010, and the University of Missouri in 2006. Penn State hasn't allowed kegs since the 1992 season.

The University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University already have "no kegs" rules at tailgating parties, although it's not clear how long those restrictions have been in place.

The potential keg ban at ASU is one of several changes under consideration to increase safety. ASU officials say incoming students will be required to read the university's Code of Conduct, a document that sets behavior expectations. ASU also is planning to step up an information campaign about the dangers of underage drinking.

Reach the reporter at anne.ryman@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8072.