Over the past three years public safety has reported around 600 alcohol incident referrals. There have been 17 arrests on campus within the past three years.
The 2014 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report states all the rules and procedures that the members of the campus must follow. It also includes the rules public safety officers must enforce.
In the section labeled Alcoholic Beverages it states that any student or guest of a student under the age of 21 is not allowed to consume or be in the possession of alcohol.
Despite these regulations students still drink on campus. Sophomore graphic design major, Kyle Wimmer, dealt with the repercussions of not following the college’s alcohol policy during his freshman year.
Wimmer was drinking in his room and when someone opened the door to leave, a campus official happened to be walking by his room.
With the door open, the official saw the remains of alcohol in Wimmer’s room. After the official approached Wimmer, he admitted to being in possession of alcohol despite being under age.
After he was initially given the referral, Wimmer was then required to attend an alcohol awareness class.
During the class Wimmer says that they gave facts about the negative impacts that alcohol can have. Facts such as these are also offered in the security and fire safety report. Wimmer says that the class was not as bad as he was expecting and that the campus official who taught the class was most concerned with the health and safety of the students.
The second part of the alcohol referral is a $100 fine. Wimmer did not agree with the fine. “I can understand the class but the fine was so stupid,” Wimmer said.
Students can even get in trouble for being around empty alcohol bottles. Sophomore criminology and sociology major, Samantha Laird, has experienced this first hand.
During room inspections, Laird was sitting in her room when the RAs conducting the room inspections walked in. Then they saw the empty alcohol bottles. Then the RA said to get rid of the bottles and that her room would get inspected again in two days. Laird thought that this was the end of the incident.
However she then received an email from a campus official. Laird said that she was planning on decorating the bottles to put in her room, but she didn’t get a chance to do it before room inspection.
“It was my fault for not being smarter with the bottles,” said Laird. “But it is stupid how if you paint an alcohol bottle its nothing but if its just an empty bottle you get in trouble.”
@lillianmhurley
