The Student Association has started talks with DeKalb to lower the entry age to bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

The potential changes were announced at a Nov. 23 SA Senate meeting where Cody Sheriff, chair of the Campus Life and Greek Affairs committee, said the committee would look into decreasing the age of entry for bars in DeKalb, most likely to 20, to better incorporate students of all ages into the local community. Members of the SA met with Mayor John Rey to discuss the potential change Wednesday.

Ben Donovan, SA director of governmental affairs, said the process to evaluate the proposed changes will consist of data collection and analysis and talking to other university communities with similar policies, such as the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Western Illinois University. The research will begin as soon as possible, Donovan said.

“Fundamentally, even though we may get positive feedback from other universities, we are still DeKalb and we have our own unique set of things we need to look into,” Donovan said.

The SA will gather information by asking these universities about potential consequences and benefits and then preparing a cost-benefit analysis. If the initial research turns out positive, Donovan said, a stakeholder analysis with people in DeKalb would be the next step.

“The intent of the process that I described is to show the city and the greater community that this isn’t just something that we’re pursuing on the whim, that we intend to be a very professional and well-conducted process and we won’t push for anything that isn’t driven by data,” Donovan said.

Donovan said if the stakeholder analysis comes out well, the SA would make a recommendation to City Council to lower the legal entry age.

Rey declined to comment.