ON ANY weekend night at the University, one could potentially find thousands of students at any of dozens of locations on or off Grounds drinking alcohol. It’s a reality of the college experience. And inevitably, of these hundreds of students, any number of students have had too much to drink, and some will require medical attention for alcohol-related health issues. Students not only need to understand the valuable resources the University has to offer in these potentially dangerous situations, but also that these resources function properly much more than most students are aware.
In a recent weekend, a first-year friend of mine — for the sake of anonymity, let’s say his name is Donald — was one of these students who had had too much to drink. Donald arrived at an apartment party already drunk, and proceeded quickly to become more impaired through consumption of hard liquor. He was carefree, quiet, and had trouble standing on his own-not attracting attention to the danger of the situation. He was accompanied back up to his dormitory, where his friends remained with him, constantly monitoring his situation. Around 3 a.m., Donald became unresponsive completely and stopped breathing. This is where the University’s valuable network of alcohol support services came into play. Residents informed Donald’s Resident Advisor of the situation, and the RA called the University police. In Donald’s situation, there was no mention of administrative action, punishment by the RA, or legal consequences through the University police: Donald was escorted to the hospital, where he spent the rest of the night. Donald was processed quickly to leave the hospital when he awoke the next morning, no questions asked. He was contacted several days later by a dean and summoned to a meeting regarding the incident. The end result? Donald left a life-threatening experience with a warning from the administration.
Of course this could be seen as potentially dangerous, opening the door for the situation to repeat itself. On the contrary, every student at the University is an adult, responsible for his own decisions. Creating overly harsh punishment for the incident would harbor ill will among students, probably perpetuating dangerous alcohol practices in the future. Donald commented that he “know[s] what alcohol does to the body. [He] drinks fairly regularly, but this time just got way out of hand.” In these removed situations, the subdued but available response of the administration is almost definitely for the best.
Myths are common among University students that reporting cases of over-drunkenness could lead to administrative action or disciplinary consequences. Despite what the Stall Seat Journal and the Office of Health Promotion proclaim, I found it difficult to believe that the administration would handle the situation with discretion and understanding. But Donald’s case seems to almost-perfectly reflect the way the University’s alcohol response system ideally operates. Susan Bruce, director for the Center for Alcohol and Substance Education even acknowledged that the University has “got good procedures in place... but there’s always the rumor mill.” She admitted that there are police stationed at the hospital for the security of the University, but that students have no reason to fear punishment. “There may be a follow-up conversation with the Dean on-call or the Area Coordinator [to see if the problem is on-going] ... but it’s not UJC charges,” Bruce confirmed. Obviously, the student’s health is not only the first priority in these situations, but is the only priority of those involved.
While underage drinking has gone underground in recent decades because of its national illegality, the University does a surprisingly good job of being tolerant of drinking situations and handling them with the care of the student as its utmost concern. The answer to over-indulging rests in the availability of resources. It’s important to understand that Donald’s case is not extraordinary, and you could encounter a similar situation in your time at the University. Simply put, be aware of the resources available, and use them.
Anthony Nobles is a Viewpoint Writer for The Cavalier Daily.
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