American University Alcohol Policy?

So I heard that American is a “damp” campus due to its policy allowing students over 21 to have alcohol in dorms. I also heard that students cannot get in trouble for being drunk, only for possessing alcohol - is this true? The phrase I was told in relation to this policy is that “your body is not a container,” meaning that your body containing alcohol is not punishable, whereas having a physical container of it is. I also was told that many underage students still possess alcohol in dorms but hide it, since the RA searches do not open drawers or cabinets but I don’t know how accurate that is. I’m not planning on keeping alcohol in dorms or doing anything sketchy like that but I just want to know the rules. Please clarify the policy and the truthfulness of what I heard. Thank you!

Your information is true. The motto students live by is “Your body is not an open container” and as long as you do not have alcohol with you, you will not get sent to conduct. If you get transported, you will not be sent to conduct but you will be sent to the counseling center.

Some students do have alcohol in their room but RAs only do searches once a semester and give you warning (they won’t give you an exact time, but they will say I will be doing inspections this week) so it is not like a sudden raid. Be aware that most students who get in trouble for having alcohol do so because someone called in a noise complaint or they were being loud during RA rounds; if the RA knocks on your door and you are obviously drinking (aka solo cups, beer and hard liquor in view, etc) than you will get sent to conduct.

I’d read the formal policy and make sure you understand it. Even if not actively enforced, one bad incident or zealous RA could lead to a change in practice at any time.

The formal policy is no student can be sent to conduct for being drunk but can if caught with alcohol. It use to be that either situation would get you sent to conduct but multiple students died/were sexually assaulted when they avoided coming back to campus and therefore, the policy has changed.

Thank you so much! During the RA searches, is it true that they cannot open drawers or search within storage, only looking at what is clearly out in the open?

I’m assuming frat parties are the primary way students get drunk. How far away from campus are the frat houses? Also, irrelevant to alcohol, but are there sorority houses?

The RA searches are for health and safety. They do not go through drawers and are only looking for visible things. It actually has nothing to do with alcohol, the goal of the searches is to make sure that you do not have unapproved things in your dorm (i.e unapproved microwaves, toasters, space heaters, etc).

There is not a fraternity row and no official fraternity/sorority houses. But the reality is there are unofficial fraternity houses and their location varies depending on the frat but most are located in and near Tenleytown but some are as far as Bethesda. On sorority houses, there are none that are explicitly a sorority house. Some sororities have members who have rent homes together independently of their organization.

There are no official frat or sorority houses. Students in Greek organizations can live off campus and rent from landlords.