Editor’s note: Last names have been redacted for sources’ privacy
Sugarhouse Pub liquor sales were suspended as of Dec 6 by the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services, and there is no definite date for when or if they will be lifted, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
After a “targeted enforcement operation” on Friday, Nov 22, 186 criminal citations (class B misdemeanors) were given to underage individuals, six being 17 years old, and 50 fake IDs were confiscated, according to a Salt Lake Tribune article.
The Sugarhouse Pub is the closest bar to Westminster University. It’s a 7 to 10 minute walk from campus and the center of many students’ nightlife.
“I [went to Sugarhouse Pub] my first two years of college, I haven’t gone once this year,” said Drew, a junior custom major at Westminster University.
Drew said that large groups of Westminster students went to Sugarhouse Pub most Thursday nights because the pub is known to be easier to get into and because it’s “convenient and close.”
State Bureau of Investigation agents and Utah Highway Patrol troopers sealed off the building for four hours to process and verify the identification of everyone in the building, according to KSL.
Sugarhouse Pub first landed on the police’s radar two to three months ago after a police officer stopped a 19-year-old impaired driver who had just visited the pub, KSL said.
It is likely that similar operations of “officers showing up to a bar unannounced” will happen in the future, said Lieutenant State Bureau of Investigation Jeff Adams, in the article by KSL.
Fake IDs are largely bought through bulk orders over sites that deliver cash directly to the dealer, according to Mustang News, California Polytechnic State University’s student newspaper. Word of mouth is usually how students gather enough people for a discount order.
“Almost everyone that I hung out with had a fake ID or had some way of getting into a bar,” said Mya, a junior sociology major.
Though Westminster students live on a ‘wet campus’ (alcohol is allowed for those over 21 and at school events) 52% of students don’t feel like it is one because they’re unsure of the restrictions in place, according to a Forum article from 2019.
Unlike the University of Utah, Westminster has no fraternities or sororities that frequently host student-based parties.
“If you try to throw a party [on campus] most likely you won’t get away with it,” said Mya, who once was an RA. “You’ll get a pretty big noise complaint and then someone will come to your door, and depending on how chill the RA is, they’ll either report you or they’ll be like ‘literally shut the fuck up.’”
Students are not allowed to drink or store drinks anywhere on campus that underage students have access to, according to the campus housing handbook.
