News
Working with students, administration advises hard alcohol policy
By Kaitlin McCabe '16
September 6, 2012
In the fall semester of 2012, Hamilton welcomes not only an influx of new first-years but also a new policy on campus regarding the usage of hard alcohol.
Three years ago, in the fall of 2009, Hamilton College implemented a stern policy against hard alcohol based upon various studies that recognized such substances as the cause of the most detrimental alcohol-related incidents. Since that time, underage students caught using hard alcohol, or students who violated other, non-drinking related policies while under the influence of hard alcohol, were given three points in addition to those points already assigned for their particular violation. Such an approach was intended to deter students from choosing to consume hard alcohol.
However, a survey conducted at Hamilton last spring revealed that students misunderstood the policy, considering it to be a ban against hard alcohol as opposed to an informed advisement. Nancy Thompson, Hamilton’s dean of students, says, “The policy has pushed [hard alcohol] further underground and led to even more dangerous [incidents].”
In response to these results, Dean Thompson, in accordance with committees such as the Student Activities Board, has chosen to alter Hamilton’s hard alcohol policy by eliminating those additional points delivered due to the usage of such substances. Instead of concentrating on punishing student violations with points, “We are focusing our attention on behaviors, specifically behaviors that are dangerous, destructive, and disruptive,” Thompson said. “Students who get in trouble will get whatever points they’ve earned, regardless of what beverage they are consuming.” Specifically, under the College’s points system, underage students consuming alcohol will be assigned one or two points for violating the policy, without any specific attention to the type of alcohol.
Hamilton has also altered the consequences for those students with six or more points. Since the implementation of the points system, such students have been prohibited from studying abroad and serving as members of the Judicial Board or Honor Court.
Starting this semester, 50 points will be added to the housing lottery number of students who receive 6 or more disciplinary points over the course of the year. Those individuals wishing to participate in the substance free or Co-op lotteries who also have 6 or more disciplinary points will have a proportional points penalty added to their lottery number. Students may now lessen their total number of disciplinary points by participating in Step Up!, a bystander intervention training program, within six months of their initial violation.
These changes, as well as the school’s recent dedication to Step Up!, are intended to “improve the social culture” of Hamilton College, said Dean Thompson. Travis Hill, the college’s director of Residential Life, firmly supports students’ role in developing a more positive social scene on campus. “The greatest improvements around alcohol consumption and the negative impact it has on our community would be through student action,” he says. “It is not [the Hamilton administration’s] preference to handle these problems through the judicial system and handing out points, but rather by having friends and fellow students step up and step in.”
The general consensus is that students at Hamilton approve of the College’s latest emphasis on dangerous, destructive and disruptive behavior. Chip Sinton ’13 said, “When you take the shot glass out of the bathroom and into the common room, students learn more responsible drinking habits.” Undoubtedly, this first semester of the 2012-2013 academic year will serve as a test of the new hard alcohol policy’s ability to positively impact campus life at Hamilton.