Would you like your son or daughter to be able to buy alcohol on their Texoma college campus? University North Texas students may be able to soon because UNT has applied for a liquor license.
The final portion of the application was submitted on Tuesday. The Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission now has forty days to approve the request. The move to apply for the license raises questions about whether alcohol should be served on Texoma college campuses, where it would be served and how it would be regulated.
Officials at Midwestern State University say that while it isn’t unheard of for larger campuses to apply for a liquor license they have no plans to do it here.
“I do not see Midwestern State University in the near future applying for our own liquor license. We have some other strategies in place to offer opportunities to our students and we also want to focus on our core mission which is about a world class education and an outstanding environment for our students.”
MSU officials says there have been discussions about serving alcohol on campus in the past.
“There have been some students who have suggested that we look into serving alcohol on campus – with an emphasis on beer and wine. Maybe there is that additional revenue to consider but there is also an increase in exposure and liability that comes with it and we have to weigh which side is more important.”
Margarita Venegas, spokesperson for UNT, says the university applied for the liquor license to explore options for serving alcohol. She says no decision has been made as to how, if approved, they will use the license.
MSU has a partnership with the City of Wichita Falls. They offer a special bus route on Friday and Saturday evenings called the MESA. It shuttles students of legal drinking age to entertainment spots near campus like Denim & Diamonds and Parkway Grill. The bus gets them to the location and back to campus safely.
MSU officials say they are basically an alcohol-free campus but there are exceptions – on a case by case basis. There are processes through which an alcohol event could be requested and registered. Tenants in on campus apartments are of legal drinking age and allowed to consume alcohol as long as everyone present is 21 years or older.
– Newschannel 6
