<p>Okay. Let me put this out there: I believe that students who get drunk repeatedly or who are high from any drugs should be kicked out. My impression is that this behavior is tolerated, and I can't understand why it would be.</p>
<p>If anybody has any knowledge of specific schools and how they have been handling this problem, I'd like to hear about it. Thanks.</p>
<p>The University of Chicago, as it was presented to me during orientation, does not feel that it is the college's responsibility to act as law enforcement. Students are expected to follow the law, but the college does not specifically appoint people, such as RAs, to report students who do not. </p>
<p>EDIT: I'm not sure I'm being clear. The school has an alcohol policy that you would expect: The University prohibits all students and employees from the unlawful manufacture, possession, use, distribution, sale, or purchase of alcohol and other drugs on University premises or as part of any University activity, and from working under the influence of alcohol or illicit drugs; however, the school does not go out of its way to enforce this rule ("police" students), though the school may. The school may report students who break these laws to the authorities or may take disciplinary action against students who break these or other rules, ranging from being suspended from housing, fired from a campus job, kicked off a sports team, to expulsion. In my experience, though, the University does none of these things, even though it very easily could. My school is broken down into houses. Each house has RA(s) and Resident Heads, who are senior grad students living with their families in the house in the dorm. RAs and RHs often know about underage alcohol use, but their job description--as far as I know--does not include a requirement to turn these students in to a school or public authority.</p>
<p>I am not at all positive that this is actually the University's stance, opinions, or a reflection of actual rules. This is simply the understanding I got from our house meeting during orientation.</p>
<p>The message presented to parents at Vanderbilt's summer orientation was that no alcohol, much less illegal drugs, will be tolerated in the freshman dorms. Three strikes and you are out was the message. Strikes one and two had some level of disciplinary action, but I don't remember the details. My son, however, was led to believe that the speech to the parents was just talk (this from the students leading the orientation events). </p>
<p>I guess it remains to be seen. However, I got the impression that the speech to the parents represented a change of approach from the recent past, and the administration at least intends to be less tolerant.</p>
<p>Our tour guide at American University said that if you are caught with alcohol on the premises (it is a dry campus), you will be kicked out. Don't know how true that is, but he said he knew some people who were kicked out because of alcohol. </p>
<p>He also said students simply go off campus to drink. There are plenty of frat and sorority houses nearby, and plenty of bars in Washington DC.</p>
<p>sonssecty: Should universities kick out students who smoke tobacco? </p>
<p>What do you define "drugs" as? Drugs the government says are illegal? Have you read any of the studies in esteemed medical journals like The Lancet that suggest that legal drugs are among the more dangerous drugs?</p>
<p>As for alcohol: Whatever. It's college, people drink. Everyone knows it, especially the universities, and the reason they don't crack down on it is because in the long run it is essentially harmless. Resources are better spent elsewhere, and it would be much more harmful to society if universities were strict and teetotaling than if they remain as they are. Plenty of kids who grow up to be excellent, productive people drink, and drink underage. It's the way things are.</p>
<p>I like Princeton's line on this, too. More or less, as long as you aren't infringing on others when you're drunk, drunkenness itself is not grounds for punishment.</p>
<p>Sonssecty, what if a young lady and 3 friends share a 6 pack in their dorm room? Do you really think there should be a zero tolerence policy? If the school kicks them out, shouldn't their parents do the same thing?</p>
<p>It varies from school to school. There was so much alcohol in my son's dorm (an Ivy) that I'm surprised the place didn't spontaneously combust. However, my co-worker's daughter came home drunk/sick from a frat party and got busted by an RA. She lost her scholarship for second semester and narrowly avoided getting kicked out of a special program she was in. (this was Miami of Ohio).
Back in "the day", we weren't supposed to have alcohol in the dorms at IU, but I mixed up batches of my family's secret recipe for Union League Punch in trashcans. Drinking in dorms is certainly not new.</p>
<p>On tour last week at Princeton, the guide mentioned the availability of substance-free dorms. A parent asked why such a designation should be necessary, given that most dorms for undergraduates would require their residents to be substance free, since most would be under 21. Well, the guide hemmed a bit, mentioned something about the students who were over 21, then said NJ state law forbade the college from going into the dorms to enforce the law. Yeah, right. I don't know what Princeton's actual policy is, but I doubt enforcement (or lack thereof) has anything to do with state law.</p>
<p>Florida State, despite having a well deserved reputation for being a party school, will turn in any minor caught with alcohol or drugs on campus to the local police. I met someone whom that happened to after he was drinking with his roommates freshman week.</p>
<p>As I understand it, at my s college, if they are caught drinking in the dorm they get a $50 fine and must meet with the headmaster of the dorm. They are on probation and must complete an online course. I think if they have 3 offenses they are kicked out of the university. The R.A.'s are on the lookout for this type of thing.</p>
<p>Pepperdine University...no alcohol or drugs on campus regardless of age. It happens, depending on the RA but for the most part enforced. D's friend received a bottle of champagne on their "anniversary" from BF (at another school) and the bottle was discovered. Even though it wasn't opened, she went before a hearing. No wild parties on campus, better fro studying, but easily find parties off campus.</p>
<p>I was a RA as a grad student many years ago and do not recall any situation involving drinking/drugs being so cut and dried. </p>
<p>I was aware of both on my floor and as long as it did not spill out into the hall I looked the other way and followed up with the roomies in the following days. My concern was for their safety and success not as an enforcer of the laws.</p>
<p>All of my boys returned soph and jr year, seemed to mature and hopefully graduated.</p>
<p>Any situation which was threatening or adversely impacted other dorm residents was dealt with immediately and referred on to the administration.m And yes at least one person in the frosh quad was expelled as far as I know.</p>
<p>skylandsmom: Princeton's alcohol policy is here at <a href="http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/rrr/06/40.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pub/rrr/06/40.htm</a>.</p>
<p>Princeton does not expressly forbid drinking in rooms in the dorms, so long as it is not excessive and does not interfere with others' lives (this is a paraphrase, you can read it yourself).</p>
<p>What the tour guide should have said, and probably didn't have memorized in order to be able to, is that rooms will not be entered without substantive cause (substantive cause criteria are listed). It seems though, like so much else, that those criteria are overstated, and it would actually take a lot for security to enter a room.</p>
<p>As for substance free, my take is that it includes tobacco, which is available at 18 and thus could be consumed by people at the university, and that it includes not using substances both in the dorms and in general life - something that a non-sub-free dorm does not require. Furthermore, while someone in a normal dorm who was caught drinking would be punished, a person from a sub-free dorm caught drinking would definitely receive a much harsher sanction, as they are breaking not just the law(which is, let's face it, stupid in many cases), but their own honor, which is far more important.</p>
<p>I saw somewhere that Georgetown turned in 800+ underage drinking violations to their judicial system. My guess is they are fairly strict about...you know crazy stuff like obeying the law. .</p>
<p>College students are pretty much 18 at minimum, right?
Old enough to drive a car, rent an apartment, get married , vote,buy a shotgun or rifle, join the army, buy cigarettes, watch R rated movies
What else?
I don't recall my landlord giving a rip if I was drinking beer, ( although they did want to know if anyone smoked for housing ins), having sex, or even having parties.
My employer didn't care either.
As long as my behavior didn't interfere with paying my rent- doing my work, I was expected to behave as an adult and I was treated as such.
If substance use had interfered with my job for example, then logical consequences would have been to be fired, or demoted.
But allowing that I was able to party on the weekends and work 9-5 the rest of the time, I was able to enjoy the fruits of being an adult and not treated like I had to have a minder.</p>
<p>The impression that I have received at several campuses is that having alcohol in the dorms in a bottle, can, or glass can get you in trouble.</p>
<p>But if the alcohol is already in your body -- meaning that you did your drinking elsewhere -- nothing much happens in terms of discipline.</p>
<p>heh, these kinds of topics make me laugh.</p>
<p>At my school the question really is, who are you getting caught by? If it is my housemaster and he catches me with alcohol then he'll give me a stern warning to not do that in the hallways. If it's the security guard he/she will say they would join me if they weren't at work. If it is my RA she'll tell me to be safe and not die.</p>
<p>As for weed, it's pretty much the same except the housemaster would be seriously ****ed off and there would probably be some serious fall out from that (probably nothing involving the discipline committee, more likely a very strict warning, or if he's especially mad he would kick the offender out of housing which would be awful), the security guards don't care, and the RA just calls us stupid.</p>
<p>Essentially there probably wouldn't be a huge amount of fall out for drugs or alcohol where I live unless for some bizarre reason the CPs showed up. also, rooms are private and unsearchable if the door's closed, so if you're smart you just do everything there.</p>
<p>Yeah, my school has a pretty relaxed system, and surprising to say my dorm is actually not even close to the most relaxed about everything.</p>
<p>At Penn State if an underage person has a beer in your room/apartment you can be arrested for supplying them with alcohol. If they go out to a number of parties afterward, get drunk and end up hurting themselves or someone else you will be liable even if they only had a beer in your room.</p>
<p>Happen often? No. Happen. Yes. It's a risk.</p>
<p>I am surprised at how many posts on here insist that the policies are cut and dry and enforced. Ha! I don't believe there is such a clear policy consistently enforced for even one school (OK, maybe at Bob Jones). No school would tolerate the attrition rate if they kicked out every kid caught with any alcohol. And drugs - well, the intent to distribute is generally a big cut off point.</p>
<p>Policies are generally flexible. In other words, it depends on the kid, the frequency, the event, the mood of the RA (or other staff) who might happen upon it, whether or not there is outside police or publicity involvement, and probably about a million other things.</p>
<p>Stanford's written rule is "you must follow the law". The unwritten rule is "stay safe, and we won't bother you". RA's don't bust kids for drinking, though they theoretically could. They focus on making sure nothing gets out of hand--no one gets sick, and parties don't get so loud that people nearby can't sleep. It works quite well.</p>