After more than a year, the university has finally

announced it will change the alcohol policy after more than a year of waiting.

Students have been waiting patiently as the alcohol policy hangs in limbo over campus to find out if we will continue to be pushed off campus to socialize.

But it seems more waiting must be done.

Last week, President Eli Capilouto said alcohol would be allowed on campus under certain conditions for people of legal age. He also wants to strengthen the university’s relationship with Lexington police and other enforcement agencies so student conduct violations off-campus are reported to the university more often.

But the Kernel expected a more concrete decision and we think students deserve one. Instead, we are left to decipher the vague words of Capilouto and must endure yet another task force, which will meet this summer to develop a policy. We hope this committee makes a policy that will allow students to do more than wait, rather than creating more bureaucracy and deferring it to another task force.

The change in UK’s alcohol policy is long overdue,  and students and the city deserve better.

For years there has been tension between the university and surrounding neighborhoods over alcohol consumption and student behavior off campus. This tension reached a boiling point during the NCAA Tournament, where thousands of fans gathered near State Street to celebrate when the men’s basketball team both won and lost. Police arrested 40 people this year during the NCAA Tournament celebrations on and near State Street. Yet only three of them were UK students.

While we expect the university to want to control our every move on campus, off campus should be off limits.

Currently, the policy does mean the Student Code of Conduct applies to students off campus, although the communication between police departments and UK means it is hard to enforce. The recommendations from the committee hope to strengthen this relationship so the university is aware when a student is arrested or gets a DUI off campus, for example.

But if a student makes a mistake off campus it is not the university’s concern. The Kernel does not think it is fair for students to be penalized by the university if they are fairly penalized by the law.

When the Kernel asked Robert Mock, UK’s vice president for student affairs, about small infractions, he said the university would likely issue warning letters in most cases, unless a student is a repeat offender.

While it is good to see leniency given to students, empty threats and hollow warnings are an attempt by the university to micromanage students who live off campus, a place where the university has no business being.

But not every recommendation adopted by Capilouto is ill-conceived.

The inclusion of an amnesty policy that will allow students to report potentially dangerous situations that could include instances of substance abuse — such as a drug overdose — without the fear of punishment is a great move toward securing the safety of UK’s students.

And that’s the kind of step the university should continue to take instead of trying to micromanage how students spend their free time, especially off campus.