<p>@airborne - So you are saying that the UD administration knew of university / state alcohol policy violations and ignored them, leading to a riot? Can you cite a source? I can’t seem to find one that implicates UD with the 2013 rioting.</p>
<p>I would be outraged to find out that anyone on the UD payroll was involved with circumventing or breaking alcohol laws. I assume that the club sports coaches are the UD employees you referenced.</p>
<p>then why did UD suspend the rugby club for the party? seems the UD feels that they have some control over it. But whether the school has anything to do with the party or not. it is interesting that a club team hosted the thing. The club sports teams are not regulated by NCAA rules, but they should have some standard. They are basically drinking clubs. </p>
<p>but like I said, when you have coaches of club sports going out for drinks with students, it is poor judgement. especially when freshman are on these teams. Does this sort of attitude exist among the RA’s in the freshman dorms? </p>
<p>@airborne - You have me confused. You stated that UD condones the party atmosphere but now you are saying that UD suspended the rugby club. That seems to be more of a punishment than acceptance… If I recall correctly, several students were expelled from UD for taking part in the disturbance.</p>
<p>Are you saying that the coaches of the club sports provided alcohol to underage students? That would be a serious infraction. I would hope that you reported any knowledge of such an event to the proper authorities. I certainly would.</p>
<p>Finally, can you expound on your comments about RA’s in the freshman dorms? Where is that coming from? Granted, I have only been following news in and around UD since my daughter applied in the fall of 2011 but I’ve seen no stories about RA’s drinking with the students under their responsibility.</p>
<p>First, reacting to an event, after it became major news and public relations sore spot is not taking a hard line on anything. it is damage control.</p>
<p>That was the rugby house. a club sport… the other club sport “houses” are all known as the hard party houses. </p>
<p>No I am not saying coaches provided anything. But going out with the team drinking after practice; yes. ethically coaches should not be buddies with their team. </p>
<p>Okay. I have only been in the freshman dorms once. Myself being severely disabled and freshman dorms not being accessible made it impossible without help from alot of people. However, I have been in the other dorms.</p>
<p>First, RA’s are students who need money and take the job. And it is not a fun job. My D’s RA regretted the job by the end of the first semester. </p>
<p>I have sat out in the car when picking up my daughter at the freshman dorms when cases and cases of beer go walking in at 6pm. Not exactly a covert operation, and not by a few. Does not exactly take a major sting operation to find out who is doing it. Not a single student seemed to be worried about someone catching them.</p>
<p>The other dorm my daughter was in I did go into to whenever we picked her up. The entire floor smelled like pot. not just a single time I went… but most of the time. again. not on some off night. you could smell it from the RA’s room. so does not take any effort to figure out. </p>
<p>Maybe it was just a few lazy RA’s, but again it is condoning the action. And you earn a party school ranking for it. </p>
<p>Oh good luck ever complaining to UD about anything. ever. You will be handled like you are calling the cable company about them being late for an install appointment. </p>
<p>@airborne - I see that your daughter was a freshman in 2009. It would have been helpful to state that those were your observations five years ago. Personally, I felt the current policies were a bit Draconian when my daughter completed her dorm contract in 2012. Both roommates would face disciplinary actions for any violation of the drug & alcohol policy. My daughter made it very clear to her roommate that no illegal activities would take place in their shared room. She did tell me that there was alcohol in her dorm but that it was not in plain sight - students feared being caught and facing sanctions.</p>
<p>I am familiar with a student who was caught in an inebriated state shortly after the start of their fall freshman term. The penalties were severe enough to dissuade that student from making the same mistake again. That’s why I questioned your assertion that UD condones a party atmosphere.</p>
<p>I’m not familiar with the rugby house. Is it owned / operated by UD or is it a private off-campus residence? Obviously, the rules are quite different between those two scenarios.</p>
<p>Can you provide any additional information on the context of the club sports coaches? Here’s a quote from the home page for the Club Men’s basketball team: “Our basketball team is all about being a competitive team that has tons of fun doing something we all love.” I might consider it unethical if the coach supplied alcohol to the students of legal drinking age and it would definitely be unethical to supply alcohol to underage minors. However, joining the club players at a tavern for a beer after a game would hardly quality as unethical - in my opinion of course.</p>
<p>Considering they just earned the party school ranking back I doubt that much has improved. Though I will say in my experience UD reacts to issues. So you are fine drinking, sortof, until you over do it and then they react. How many of the students killed in traffic on main street were drunk? At least the town and the school changed the crosswalk laws. </p>
<p>The written policy is only as good as the effort to enforce it. Early in the year the RA seemed to be very attentive to that kind of thing, and it seemed to dwindle as the year progressed. And I think alot of it is on the RA. There is no security at each building like some schools have. And what I got from my daughter is that the RA seemed to want to be friends with the residents, out of pure loneliness than anything else. </p>
<p>The second RA my daughter had was worthless. period. The first one was just not equipped for the job. There were a few incidents that she handled poorly. Though she did seem to try in the beginning.</p>
<p>But the main benefit of moving your child off campus is putting your child in control. If your child really does not want to be around 24 hour drinking and pot… it is on them. Plus the Newark police are the responding agency, and not the university and their; is it a crime or is it just an administrative punishment?.. i don’t know, but let the student RA make some calls before anything is done.</p>
<p>I don’t know the rugby house, but the hockey house is off campus. From the articles it would seem that the rugby house is off campus. So if it were off campus, why did UD do anything to the rugby team? Newark police responded so it had to be off campus. ( Newark police cannot respond on campus, only if directly asked by campus safety ). They only reacted to public shame. </p>
<p>If you think it is fine to go out drinking with students. then maybe I am a bit more of hard liner with it all. But knowing there were underage students, just being there is really a stretch. But I don’t think any university employee who has a position of control over the students should fraternize in any way. it is problematic from several aspects.</p>
<p>Freshman move-in is less than two weeks away and the start of classes is on August 26th. Make sure to thank the Arrival Survival volunteers if they help with the move-in!</p>
<p>As @Mwallenmd noted above, now is a good time for parents to make sure their kids are aware of the risks associated with alcohol. Many promising education experiences have been derailed by a lack of focus caused by drug & alcohol abuse.</p>
<p>@airborne - I think you offered proof that UD does not condone the part atmosphere. Here’s a paragraph from the UD Student Guide to University Policies:</p>
<p>The University accepts no responsibility for the possession, use, consumption, manufacture, sale, or distribution of alcoholic beverages by students off-campus, including at events or functions sponsored in whole or in part by one or more student organizations or individuals. A student hosting or attending an off-campus function should be aware of the applicable laws regarding alcohol and should be aware that the University may also pursue student conduct charges upon the student for such behavior.</p>
<p>That would explain why the rugby house was punished for an off-campus event. Men’s Rugby is no longer listed on UD’s Club Sports page due to their violation of the policy. Bravo to UD for taking action and showing that they still have some control over students even when they are off-campus.</p>
<p>It would be interesting to hear back from freshman students and / or their parents after a few weeks of the fall term have passed. Is dorm life similar to the descriptions given by @airborne or has UD tightened up the gaps to provide an environment more conducive to learning?</p>
<p>I can say from my D’s experience in Dickenson two years ago there was certainly “some drinking” nothing over the top and mostly kid who chose to hang in and drink quietly with a few friends in their room. ANYTHING that called attention to the fact they were drinking whether in the dorm or outside and returning home was dealt with. I personally appreciate the stand UD has. They get the fact that things are going to happen. They are looking to keep the kids safe but not nail them and fine the daylights out of them for minor infractions but warn them and make sure they understand the consequences. At least 3 of my D’s floormates that I know of broke the rules and were fined, warned, etc… One person I know of had pot in their possesion and they were kicked off campus. There was a zero tolerance for drugs policy and no second chance in this case. </p>
<p>I can say that as silly as doing the UD alcohol and drug program online may seem my D really did learn a few things about consumption and how to be more safe. Two years later and she will still on occasion quote a few of the consumption rules. My son has just started the program but I am eager for him to have a bit more knowledge under his belt other than trial and failure in real life. He’s more of a partier than my D but overall responsible. Right down to having to make a decision to call police and EMT for a friend a few months back when he arrived at a location where a friend with no alcohol experience was not doing well. I don’t think there is a college or high school in this country that doesn’t deal with these issues. I’m certain the higher ups at UD are not fist bumping each other that the school is on a party list. Especially after the high climb in academic rankings the school has taken in so many programs. Some see this as providing a well rounded experience for students but I’m sure UD would like to see it go away. </p>
<p>I will certainly report back after my son’s first few weeks. He’s in a different dorm, He’s a different kid than my D with different kids around him. I’m sure he will have a very different experience however each individual’s choices are their own so I can’t make any irrational blanket statements that would condone or condemn the entire student body because of just my 1 on 4300 student experiences. </p>