As the number of alcohol-related incidents on college campuses continues to rise, the University’s Office of Health and Wellness is posting flyers around campus stressing the importance of a student’s safety rather than disciplinary referrals for drinking. These flyers, which are posted throughout residence halls, bathrooms and academic buildings, include such pamphlets as the perennially-issued Stall Street Journal and clearly state “no student conduct referral” for those who voluntarily visit the Health Center after drinking too much.
The idea behind this policy said Director of Fairfield’s student Health Center Gary Nelson was to encourage students to use the Health Center as a safe place to go if they feel as though they have had too much to drink.
“Alcohol related accidents on college campuses cause an estimated 1,700 deaths annually,” said Nelson. “It is the schools’ responsibility to provide students with the help they might need after over-consuming alcohol.”
Many students have found that, contrary to these pamphlets, punishment has ensued in cases of over-consumption of alcohol.
Ed Gardner ’09 said that he had to pay a $50 fine and receive a student misconduct citation on his school record, in addition to attending the alcohol awareness class, as a result of his voluntary decision to check in at the Health Center.
“I knew that I had too much to drink that night and I definitely didn’t want to pass out and choke on my own vomit like you hear those rock stars do all the time,” said Gardner. “I thought I was making a responsible decision by going [to the Health Center] but I’ll definitely rethink my decision if this happens again.”
One former resident assistant, Laura Defrancesco ’08, lost her job as a result of her voluntary visit to the University Health Center.
Brad Royer ’09 said that, due to incidents like this, “students might begin to rationalize their decisions based on fear of punishment rather than good judgment.” “This could actually result in something pretty dangerous happening here on campus,” said Royer.
Tim Rich ’08, chair of the student Senate and member of the Student Health Advisory Committee (SHAC), agreed that a student “should not get into trouble if that student walks into the Health Center under their own power.”
Although he is not personally familiar with any recent cases, Rich did say that he has both seen and heard about similar incidents happening in the past.
In a 2004 issue of The Mirror, Jeanne DiMuzio, director of Wellness and Prevention, said that these flyers and pamphlets were “probably put up by her staff, but are very old and efforts have been made to take them down.”
Four years later, these same flyers continue to be posted throughout campus. Many students say that this is misleading and causes both confusion and frustration.
Due to these contradictory statements and events, students may begin deciding to just “sleep it off” after a long night of drinking. According to Nelson, however, “sleeping it off” can be a very dangerous decision because blood alcohol levels continue to rise while one is sleeping, plus chances of aspirating, or choking on one’s own vomit, become increasingly high. Nelson said the Health Center does remain firm on its policy of not referring students to any form of punishment if students have made the decision to report to the Health Center on their own.
The confusion probably happens when “we have to admit a student to the hospital,” Nelson said. “If that happens, it is our responsibility to notify their parents and make conduct referrals to the school.”
Other possible causes of confusion come from the Health Center referrals for a student to attend an alcohol-education class.
Nelson said that some students may see that as a form of punishment, but, other than that, the Health Center says they honor that policy.
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