<p>The law in VA has been summarized correctly - if you are under 21 and have any alcohol in your blood-stream, you are guilty of minor in possession of alcohol (MIP). Once a student is arrested for a crime, and is guilty per the law, there is nothing that the W&L administration can do, nor do they try.</p>
<p>W&L has a “three-strike” system for alcohol offenses. Getting a MIP counts as a strike. The school requires the student to re-take the on-line alcohol education class, and charges a $100 fee. </p>
<p>It is a mistake to think that only “party-types” are at risk for being convicted. The enforcement is fairly random. Getting an MIP is frequently just bad luck, rather than the result of a drunken act. </p>
<p>About 100 students each year get either an MIP or a Drunk in Public(in Lexington or Rockbridge County), which works out to about 5% of the student body. If you factor in that many upperclassman are over 21 and that law students account for a low percentage of these charges, the odds for a freshman or sophomore is significantly higher.</p>
<p>W&L has a terrific safe driver program. I know of no other school in the country where such a high percentage of students use safe drivers to get home from parties.</p>
<p>W&L’s president is a supporter of The Amethyst Initiative - calling for lowering the legal drinking age. The new Dean of Students has a more pragmatic approach to this issue. The University’s approach may change over the next couple of years. </p>
<p>It is expensive and inconvenient to get an MIP in Lexington. However, Virginia law allows a first time offender to keep the conviction off of their record if they complete community service, an alcohol and drug class and do not get another conviction within a year.</p>
<p>"It is a mistake to think that only “party-types” are at risk for being convicted. The enforcement is fairly random. Getting an MIP is frequently just bad luck, rather than the result of a drunken act. </p>
<p>About 100 students each year get either an MIP or a Drunk in Public(in Lexington or Rockbridge County), which works out to about 5% of the student body. If you factor in that many upperclassman are over 21 and that law students account for a low percentage of these charges, the odds for a freshman or sophomore is significantly higher."</p>
<p>Yikes! The message I get from this latest post is that it’s more risky to be a college student ANYWHERE in Virginia, not only Washington and Lee. I can imagine the number of arrests that would occur at other LACs like Amherst, Hamilton, Haverford, Bates, etc., if students going to those schools were subject to this kind of state law–and this kind of policing and administration (non)involvement. </p>
<p>This is not an insignificant factor for prospective students and their parents to carefully consider before moving forward with an application to Washington and Lee and other Virginia colleges. The application ought to come with a warning label!</p>
<p>No W&L is not concealing anything. The way the social scene is at W&L, nearly all the party activities are off campus, i.e. either in the City or surrounding county. Typically, most problems occur going to or from.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you expect the Administration to do. If a crime occurs off campus, how is the Administration involved? It might be nice with the Town/Gown relations were good enough that students are not usually arrested for drinking, but that is really up to the Town. Reading between the lines, it sounds like Lexington treats the students fairly well, but the problem is with the County (where I suspect that the University has relatively little influence). When I was there in the 70’s, this was not a problem at all (and the drinking was substantial).</p>
<p>I am also familar with other universities where the local police are extremely active in patroling for drinking/drunken students. This is not necessarily an LAC/small college issue as I have seen it in several “college towns” (small and large) where the locals may not “like” all the drinking that college students do.</p>
<p>Lexington, on average the past few years, is far far worse than the county. The county is currently worse, but that will change. The county has other **** to deal with. Lexington doesn’t.</p>
<p>OMG. and W & L is no longer on the list. thank you for your post…crazy police ruining a bucolic setting is tragic and will keep our family away. </p>
<p>you’re probably thinking we must be booze hounds. No. I don’t drink haven’t really since my 20’s, just not interested and one social drink has me telling too many jokes. My son, now 18, has been offered alcohol at home to try and has little interest, does not drink yet, but if in a social situation , which is college. to imbibe in one or two cocktails, he certainly doesn’t need a record for having done so. ridic.</p>
<p>again thank you. guess for VA, he’ll only apply to U VA,…was considering W & M too…what do you now about them?</p>
<p>thank you !!! this thread has guaranteed NO app for any school from the NV family. too many other places to go that are fabulous where a college kid doesn’t risk a record for one or two cocktails which I imagine every college kid under 21 does at least once. </p>
<p>thank you thank you thank you. goodness knows my son would be the one in five to get nailed.</p>
<p>One thing that puzzles me a bit is that given W&L’s longtime presence in this community why the school would not have stronger influence over these kinds of matters. I would imagine alums, even younger ones, would stick around and start a business there, run for office and
maybe forge a better town/gown rapport. Especially with its own law school. Is this happening but it’s on a less visible manner?</p>
<p>I am a sophomore at W&L. I wanted to present my view on the matter as a current student. This thread would make it seem that the police are arresting everyone and are present at every party- that simply is not the case. Like every college campus I’ve been to (both small or large), there is a presence of police in town. Contrary to what this thread says the police in Lexington are not out to get students. The mission is instead to keep the small town peaceful and hence has a motivation for removing incoherent 18-20 year olds. Although Washington and Lee is a very challenging school I have participated in much of the social life since entering the campus and I have never once had a problem with the police. I can estimate that Ive been to at least 5 dozen major parties in my time and can count on my hands the amount of times the police broke up an event I was at. Lexington is a very small community and W&L is known as a party school. If the cops really wanted to arrest students they would be able to find hundreds every given party night but the horror stories of people who have gotten arrested are occasional and rare and in most cases justified. If your child is considering the wonderful school that is W&L please do not let this so called “situation” harm that decision. If they choose to participate in underage drinking just being smart, utilizing the schools amazing traveler buses, and sticking with friends will let the police not hinder on their college experience. Please let me know if you have any questions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the details and clarification. However, this is the very first time I have heard that W&L is, as you say, a “party school” . I take your word for it, as you are there now. But I had been led to believe that it was more of a strongly academic campus. If it is instead primarily a party school. then all of the discussion about police involvement makes more sense. Sounds like W&L is not the best environment for the more serious, academically-inclined student.</p>
<p>On the party side, the school demanded to be removed from Princeton Review rankings when it was consistently ranking top five in the country for partying, beer, and hard liquor (but it also hit the top twenty in accessible professors, academic experience, etc).</p>
<p>Interesting that the W&L administration “demanded” as you say to be removed from the Princeton Review list of top party schools. But as many others have pointed out, administrstors won’t lift a finger if an undergrad leaves a party with even the slightest scent of alcohol on his or her lips and is busted.</p>
<p>I would recommend to parents that they get the name of a good attorney in Lexington while their child is at the school in case one is needed. It is not uncommon for a student to leave Lexington with a police record.</p>
<p>Students should understand the history of the school culture and the local police department. Lexington is a small town and students with nice cars, that like to have a good time and have lots of money have a big bulls eye on their back.</p>
<p>Expect “no” help from the University if your child gets in trouble.</p>
<p>WLU 1995 you must have been hanging with the wrong crowd. The police don’t bust you without reason. If you are not doing something illegal, you won’t get busted.</p>
<p>Just to echo hopeful, the only people who are arrested every year are the ones being blatantly stupid, like stumbling in the street or peeing in a bush. As long as you don’t have an open container and aren’t peeing in the street, you have nothing to worry. Lex police aren’t the gestapo.</p>
<p>Morganhill,
W&L is a party school, but it doesn’t detract from the academic life on the hill. But if anyone comes to this school with the intention of hunkering down in the library all four years, don’t come here. It’s a waste of a space for someone who otherwise would have gotten in and made the most of the college. In my mind, a W&L education should prepare you more than for just grad school. The social scene teaches you how to interact and network, which is our biggest advantage (as can be seen in the employment rates right out of college and the number of alums who hire grads).</p>
<p>This is true in the county but not in the city. It is generally a poor decision to walk back to the dorms if you’ve had anything to drink, regardless of if you are drunk. I know of people who were stopped by Lexpo after having nothing to drink.</p>
<p>Traveller alleviates most of these issues, but to say it is a problem relegated to only the students who are being stupid is shortsighted.</p>
<p>There are many steps between “hunkering down in the library for four years” and getting so wasted that the local PD can arrest your son or daughter. I don’t recommend to any college kid that doing the latter as a pathway to success. We have here a most curious campus and an administration that seems much more concerned about the impression it makes than taking the kinds of actions that will protect its students from harm or better yet, attacking the root causes of these troubling problems. WL is no different from many other similar institutions across our land in having this problem. What is curious is the way it appears to react to these issues, and as readers of this thread can see for themselves , the ways in which some loyal alumni approach these matters. Like it or not, the outside world has taken note of WL’s plight, and takes pot shots at it since whatever this college is doing to combat an out of control booze and party culture doesn’t seem to be working. Long term, if left unaddressed, it will have repercussions and we all hope and pray that it stops soon so that no further WL students will suffer.</p>