James Madison University has changed its policy to notify parents after a student's first alcohol offense, regardless of whether a student is a legal adult, following Virginia Tech's example. The decision to move away from notifying parents after a section violation occurs four months after a string of alcohol-related incidents at the university's annual Springfest event, during which attendees broke windows and threw liquor bottles. Police quelled the rioters with tear gas and rubber projectiles.
"The new policy is not a reaction to what happened at Springfest, but Springfest was a tipping point for us," said Don Egle, JMU's director of public affairs.
As part of its plan to communicate with parents, JMU also will send parents a postcard before a student's 21st birthday, urging them to talk to their kids about celebrating safely.
"We are going to change this culture. JMU will not be defined by a negative alcohol culture, nor will we allow it to be perpetuated," JMU President Linwood Rose said in a public letter to students.
Virginia Tech notifies parents after the first alcohol offense, even incidents such as having a beer in a residential hall, said Edward Spencer, Tech's vice president for student affairs.
Reaction from students has been mixed at both JMU and Virginia Tech.
"Some students say that since parents are paying the bills, they have the right to know," Spencer said. "Other students say, 'You are invading my privacy.'"
Virginia Tech's policy went into effect in January, and although it may be too early to see a change, Spencer said he has not seen alcohol offenses decreasing.
"We view ourselves as partners with the parents. We're trying to get them to partner with us to avoid as many of these cases as we can," Spencer said. "We want to give them fair warning that there is a problem."
Spencer also said parents had complained when students had been suspended without their hearing about earlier misconduct.
The University's policy is to notify parents after arrests or if a pattern of severe conduct exists, Dean of Students Allen Groves said. For lesser violations, students must meet with a dean or one of the area coordinators in the Office of Residence Life.
"The vast majority of offenses are of a one-time nature rather than a repeat offense indicating a more serious pattern," Groves said.
Groves added that the University only calls parents if students are listed as a tax-dependent, a condition that Groves said more than 90 percent of the undergraduate student population met.
"There has been a strong parental push for more information, not less," Groves said. "However, we are clear in explaining to parents that consistent with our parental notification policy, we will not call them every time something happens, since the vast majority of students are adults over age 18."
Groves said there were no current discussions to change the dean of students' parental notification policy.
Update 1 - 12:30pm 8/30/10: This article has been updated to correct an earlier error regarding parental notification of emergency room visits.
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