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Drinking policy to be reviewed next year

Students will have a chance to influence and reshape the campus drinking policy next year, when the University will comprehensively review current alcohol and drug regulations. 

According to Dean of Student Services Michael Whaley, in recent years the University has supported a firm campus-wide policy that clearly states rules and regulations regarding alcohol and drugs.

"What I think we’ve done in terms of campus drinking has offered a clear definition of what is acceptable and what is not acceptable according to the University’s code of non-academic conduct," Whaley said. "The current policy is a clarification of who can drink and when students can have possession [of alcohol]."

According to Whaley, federal law requires that universities review their alcohol and drug policies every two years. Next year, Dean of the College Freddye Hill will lead a committee that will examine student issues in regards to the drinking policy. Whaley said the committee will address student concerns and whether changes need to be made to the policy.

Whaley acknowledged that the current policy has resulted in an increase of student drinking violations. Whaley speculated that the University’s clear-cut drinking policy has contributed to this rise.

"The current policy has really clarified the policy for both students and Public Safety," Whaley said. "Public Safety may not have been documenting the violations as well as they have been doing now."

Students have also noticed an increase in drinking violations around campus.

"There has definitely been a rise in violations," said Ben Perl ’01, who co-chairs the Student Judicial Board (SJB). "It’s hard to say what the increase can be attributed to, but it could be a case of bad luck with more people being caught. Or students might be drinking more openly on campus, and also Public Safety has also been more active with violations."

According to Perl, the SJB remains active and influential in determining the outcomes of alleged drinking violations.

"Violations are given on a case by case basis. We generally respond to first-time violations by giving the student a warning," Perl said. "You’re usually not going to get thrown out of school for possession of a beer if it’s your first offense."

According to Whaley, the current Event Policy addresses the issues and concerns that pertain to the drinking and drug policy. It was implemented after the fall of 1997, when a series of drinking incidents on campus threatened student safety.

The Event Policy was administered using the input and suggestions from the deans, Public Safety, student representatives from the Wesleyan Student Assembly and Inter-fraternity Council, and campus health educators.

"The purpose of the party policy was to come up with some guidelines of registering parties," Whaley said. "It formed mainly to control larger student events. Events under 50 people,
for example, don’t need to be registered."

According to Director of Financial Aid Elizabeth McCormick, a drug policy is addressed when deciding whether to grant incoming student with financial aid packages. The University abides by Federal Financial Aid Regulation that prohibits financial aid assistance to students convicted of a federal crime that is drug related.

She said the University’s decision to award financial aid is not a policy formed specifically for Wesleyan.

According to McCormick, if a student is ineligible for federal aid due to a drug-related federal crime, the University will not award any institutional aid.

"I think it does make sense of financial aid to be withheld from a student if he or she is in violation of the federal law," McCormick said. "However, I don’t anticipate this being a problem of any major sort on our campus.

According to McCormick, the Financial Aid Office has begun actively screening students and applicants to ensure that they are not in violation with federal laws. 

"So far, not a single student has failed to pass the criteria," McCormick said. "We have finished checking the records of prospective frosh and are now evaluating upperclass applications."

According to Whaley, the University drug policy mirrors Connecticut state laws and enforces regulations that prohibit the illegal possession of illicit drugs.

So far students are in good standing with the University’s firm alcohol and drug policies. Perl said there have been no SJB suspensions in history due to an alcohol violation.