The revival of Castle Court as an infamous host of underage drinking, projectile beer bottles and students hanging off of balconies in the Syracuse University party scene has brought to light the lack of clarification regarding the ban on parking lot parties at the Campus Hill apartments.

In the August 2014 email to Castle residents that announced the ban following the ranking of SU as the No. 1 party school by The Princeton Review, it was made clear that discussions between the university, the Syracuse Police Department and Campus Hill resulted in the agreement on the basis of student safety.

But about a year and a half after the ban took effect, the community has been left with a muddled understanding of where the policy lies and under whose jurisdiction it is being enforced — leaving students in liability limbo and ultimately risking their personal safety.

This confusion has been sustained by conflicting statements between the three institutions that put the initial ban together. Campus Hill operators say the parties are banned. SPD says the parties aren’t banned, but that authorities will intervene if there is a safety risk present. And Kevin Quinn, SU’s senior vice president for public affairs, recently said to a reporter’s question about the ban that all three groups have continued to take on those “issues of concern.”

These discrepancies in communication have led to the development of an environment in which mass groups of students are allowed to publically drink underage without consequence. And with the absence of an explicit ban, these dangerous situations will continue under the assumption that they are allowed.

It is ultimately the responsibility of Campus Hill to clarify the policy and that of SPD to enforce it accordingly. This need for stricter execution communicates that the institutions involved to preserve student safety are instead waiting for the unfortunate opportunity to be reactive rather than proactive. But it shouldn’t take until a student or community member is seriously injured at Castle for clarification to come into play.

In 2014, these institutions were working together to bar Castle Court mega parties in defense of student safety. But now, with mixed messages and serious safety concerns, unambiguous boundaries are necessary to preserve students’ well-being in the way the ban originally intended.