Underage drinking is a common occurrence on Longwood campus, cases of which are displayed in the Longwood Police Department’s crime log. As a result, this causes problems for housing, the university Police Department (LUPD) and the Office of Conduct and Integrity.
According to LUPD’s crime log for 2016 alone, there are 12 cases referring to underage possession of alcohol (UPA) and drunk in public (DIP).
“For the ‘14-‘15 year there were 184 students and one recognized student organization charged with violations of the alcohol policy,” said Jen Fraley, associate dean of Conduct and Integrity.
The first alcohol related charge for the 2016 crime log was on January 22 with charges of UPA’s. The most recent charge was a DIP on March 18. Within these three months, there have been a total of 12 reported cases which have been documented. This could be compared to all of 2015 where there were a total of four alcohol cases in the crime log associated with Curry and alcohol.
Most of Longwood’s dorms don’t have many restrictions with alcohol besides being under the legal age limit of 21. Curry is defined as being a dry dorm, meaning that no alcohol is allowed in the building, no matter the age of students.
The reasoning behind Curry being dry is due to the fact that there is an abundance of freshmen in the building, and no other dorm has as many first year students.
According to the crime log, out of all the dorms on campus, Curry is the only one which has more than one alcohol related charge, due to the fact that they are at seven currently.
“It’s kind of easier because there is no need to worry about whether or not anyone’s 21; it’s just a fact that no one’s allowed to have it,” said Ashley Valk, the residence education coordinator for Curry.
In the student handbook, students can find punishments and consequences for potential charges, as well as the procedure for a hearing. Anyone who is going to be having a hearing can set up a meeting with a professional from the Office of Conduct and Integrity to learn more about the process.
Jen Fraley added, “Our system is setup to be educational in nature, and everyone who is found responsible gets an education sanction. Because we’re holding people accountable for their behavior, because there are certain standards that we have that we need to uphold in the community. But we also want to make sure that it’s a learning experience for people in terms of their choices, and people learn from making mistakes. So when we make mistakes, we like to help you learn and move forward in a better fashion.”
