American University has the strictest policies on student drinking among similar colleges, according to an examination of the drinking policies at Syracuse University and 10 of its peer institutions.

Yet American is considering a more lenient approach.

American’s campus, in Washington, D.C., is officially “dry”: regardless of age, you cannot drink on campus, except under certain rare and controlled circumstances. The idea is to prevent unsafe and illegal drinking, but some are starting to question whether that is actually the effect of the policy.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

Robert Hradsky, assistant vice president and dean of students at American, said the university is considering a policy change to allow students who are 21 or older to consume alcohol in their dorm rooms if all the occupants are of legal age.

“I think our students would make the argument that because they are not permitted to have alcohol on campus, they’re going off campus to drink, and that creates more risks for them,” Hradsky said.

If the change does happen, Hradsky is hopeful it will encourage students to step up and be responsible.

“If we truly believe that students are adults, why not give them the same rights and privileges as anyone else in society who is of legal drinking age?” Hradsky said.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

The 11 schools whose policies were examined are Northeastern University, Boston University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, American University, Cornell University, Northwestern University, Boston College, Lehigh University, Syracuse University and the University of Rochester.

The schools represent all of SU’s peer institutions in the northeast U.S.

Of the 11 schools, American University is currently the only one that prohibits all alcohol on campus regardless of age. The other schools allow alcohol to be consumed in the privacy of their dorm rooms if they are 21 or older. But some schools are even more lenient than this.

Northeastern and Northwestern universities, for instance, allow minors to be in the presence of alcohol if their roommates are in the room and are old enough to drink, according to their alcohol policies.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

Morgan Smith, a freshman journalism major at Northwestern, said she thinks the leniency makes sense given the culture on the campus.

“We usually don’t have a ton of kids out binge drinking all the time on the weekends,” Smith said. “Very rarely are kids hospitalized for alcohol. I think there was something like a total of two or three cases this year.”

But Northwestern University and three other schools — Boston University, George Washington University and the University of Rochester — have put limits on the amount of alcohol a resident is allowed to have in his or her possession. None of the other schools have a limit.

Of the 11 schools, seven use monetary fines as a means of punishment if students do not respect their school’s code of conduct, but only three have set rules for when a fine must be paid and how much needs to be paid — between $50 and $300, according to those schools’ policies.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

To combat the fines, medical amnesty— also known as the “Good Samaritan Laws” — grants intoxicated minors who help their intoxicated friends immunity from punishment.

“I think it makes a huge difference to let students know that they will not get in trouble for seeking help,” Hradsky said.

Smith, the freshman at Northwestern, agrees.

“There have been a lot of cases in the past where students are scared to get law enforcement involved and call for help when their friends have alcohol poisoning because they fear of getting expelled from the university,” she said.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

Pam Peter, the director of the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities at SU, said the school wants students to call for help for their friends when it is needed.

That’s why SU has a medical amnesty policy as well.

“We don’t meet with students who call the ambulance for friends who are in need of medical attention,” Peter said. “Their names don’t even appear in the reports.”

Of the 11 universities, 10 assure medical amnesty to all students. Boston University, however, is vague about when medical amnesty is granted, and Georgetown University has only recently implemented it.

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

All 11 universities use suspension, expulsion and separation from university housing as means of punishment in case students break the codes of conduct. However, according to their respective policies, only Northeastern University, Boston University and Syracuse University have a set policy of suspending students on their third violation.

Other schools use more discretion, weighing the circumstance of each case.

“Although we have a general approach to similar kinds of cases, no one size fits all,” Hradsky said. “We look at the details of the specific incident, and the sanctions are based on that contact with the student.”

Lucy Naland | Design Editor

At George Washington University, a student who gets caught a third time must meet with the dean of student affairs to determine if he or she can remain at the university.

As for separation from university housing, all universities deal with residential issues using a case­-by-­case system with the exception of Boston University, which automatically removes a student from residential living after his or her third violation, according to its policy.

Mikey Light contributed to this report.

Editor’s Note: Over the past month, The Daily Orange has collaborated with the Department of Newspaper and Online Journalism at Syracuse University on a series of stories relating to alcohol culture on the SU campus. Multiple stories will appear in The D.O. in the coming days.

Published on April 6, 2016 at 10:59 am