Published Sept. 5, 2012

Sanctions and penalties resulting from alcohol violations are now in the spotlight, with Butler University changing how it handles alcohol consumption and problem drinking by its students.

Fines have been replaced with community restoration activities, which will allow students to work toward decreasing the negative effects of alcohol consumption on campus, said Sally Click, dean of student services.

Being on conduct probation now prohibits students from participating in Greek recruitment and holding any major leadership positions on campus.

The Butler University Police Department has also answered the call to be more consistent with policy enforcement and to hand out summons arrests when necessary.

“I suspect what may occur is, for those that aren’t aware (of the changes), that they will quickly become aware and curb their behavior,” vice president for student affairs Levester Johnson said.

Irene Stevens, dean of student life, said students within the Alcohol Task Force, which was assembled during the last school year, felt previous sanctions for alcohol violations were too lenient and that the university needed to get tougher.

This sentiment is reflected in the student conduct case statistics compiled by Click.

Click said that approximately 75 to 80 percent of all conduct cases over the past several years have involved alcohol or drugs.

According to the statistics, there were 321 total conduct cases recorded in 2002. That number has steadily increased in most years since, culminating in a total of 513 conduct cases last year.

Click added that the number of recorded conduct cases does not represent the number of individuals who were held responsible for offenses or crimes.

According to the 2011-12 conduct report, 33 students were required to receive alcohol or drug assessments from a licensed clinician, and 12 students attended Butler’s in-house alcohol seminar.

Click said the alcohol assessments are mandated for individuals who demonstrate poor choices around alcohol or seem to have addiction issues.

“We have this opportunity to at least intervene,” Click said. “When we see that pattern developing, we ask for an assessment.”

The in-house seminar is conducted by Michael Denton, a program director and chemical dependency specialist with Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Denton is on campus every Friday for a three-hour session with students who have been recommended to attend the event and students who have decided on their own to hear him speak.

“He’s really entertaining and engaging,” Click said. “He tells some compelling stories and talks about the continuum of addiction.”

A description of the sanctions Butler can hand out must also be made available to students, according to parts of Section 120 of Title I of the Higher Education Act of 1965.

This is necessary in order for an institution like Butler to receive funds and financial assistance under any federal program. This includes funding in the form of student loans.

Also required under this act is a biennial review of an institution’s drug and alcohol abuse prevention program. This review must determine the effectiveness of the program and implement any changes that are deemed necessary.

Click said the last review was completed in 2010, and she is working to prepare another one by Dec. 31 of this year.

In addition, the act requires that the number of drug- and alcohol-related violations and the resulting sanctions be reported to the Department of Education.

The Financial Aid Office reviews policy and programming, but BUPD Assistant Chief of Police Andrew Ryan keeps statistics of arrests and referrals related to alcohol and drugs.

The number of alcohol-related arrests by BUPD in 2011 tallied 24 while the number of referrals totaled 167.

Ryan said arrest numbers have increased in 2012, while referral numbers have fallen.

While these statistics are undergoing change, so are Butler’s attempts to prepare students for alcohol-related situations in college.

Butler released a new online module called MyStudentBody, and all first-year students are asked to take the survey in the module. The survey addresses alcohol and drug use and sexual assault.

Click said the module will be tested for a three-year period before the university can assess its impact.

“(The module) is going to provide us information to direct our educational efforts and programs,” Click said. “It’s one of those things where other campuses are doing it and we haven’t done it up to this point, and we just thought it would be worth an effort.”

The MyStudentBody module will be used in conjunction with the Indiana Collegiate Action Network survey, which gathers information on students and their choices regarding alcohol, Click said.

The benefit of the alterations to alcohol-related sanctions and penalties cannot be determined so soon, but Click said she felt the changes were necessary.

“We have to have some response,” Click said. “It’s our duty, it’s our obligation and it’s the right thing to do if our mission is education of the whole person.”

Published Aug. 29, 2012

With Indiana officials looking to crack down on underage and high-risk alcohol consumption on college campuses, the atmosphere of Butler University is changing.

An alcohol task force, comprised of Butler students and faculty from numerous departments, was created during the 2011-12 academic year.

Curbing Illegal Drinking on Butler’s Campus
For the start of this academic year, the group has come up with multiple recommendations to help school administrators and the Butler University Police Department curb problem and illegal drinking.

“I think (the task force) is the best type of approach because you’re getting multiple perspectives,” said Levester Johnson, vice president for student affairs. “But it’s most important to involve students because they can take direct ownership of this as well.”

Irene Stevens, dean of student life and co-chair of the task force, said the recommendations made by the task force cover three areas of concern: alcohol education, enforcement of alcohol laws and sanctioning of those who break alcohol laws.

Changes in Policy
However, it is uncertain whether these recommendations are being treated as changes to Butler’s alcohol policy.

Johnson said that changes were being made to the policy while Stevens said the policy itself will be reviewed during this semester and has not yet been changed.

Sarah Barnes Diaz, health education and outreach programs coordinator and co-chair of the task force, said that the confusion lies with the semantics of the phrase “changes to the policy.”

“The recommendations are what we’re now enacting,” Diaz said. “So within that, there are some shifts in policy and some changes in the student handbook.”

Sending the Right Message
Sally Click, dean of student services, said in an email to The Collegian that a major point in the task force’s discussion was the message the university was sending about alcohol.

To that effect, posters are displayed around campus to make clear to all students that the drinking age in Indiana is 21.

Additionally, Stevens said an online module was created to educate new students about alcohol, drugs and sexual assault and that all new students were asked to complete the module prior to the start of classes.

Diaz said the school’s Red Cup Culture program also needed revisions.

“In the past, the focus of Red Cup Culture was very much on the consumption of alcohol being a personal choice,” Diaz said. “It almost sends the wrong message and gives permission, so we sliced some of that out of the video.”

Diaz said members of the task force felt that education on high-risk drinking and alcohol poisoning was necessary as well.

In addition, new students were prohibited from entering Greek houses before Aug. 27 so they would participate in planned Welcome Week activities, Click said.

A member of the Greek community, who wished to remain anonymous because of fraternity policy to limit the members that can speak to the media, said this policy was helpful.

“We can really get to know kids versus putting them in a social scene they’re not familiar with,” the individual said.

Changing How BU Enforces Rules
The task force also made recommendations with regard to enforcement of alcohol laws and changes to sanctioning, but a higher power has also had a hand in making sure laws are being followed.

The Indiana State Excise Police is a unit of the Alcohol Tobacco Commission that sends undercover police officers to Indiana colleges.

When at colleges, the officers can attend parties and other gatherings where underage drinking may be occurring and ask students for a form of identification.

Stevens said she expects the excise police force to be on campus more this academic year than in recent years. This is partly due to the creation of the Intensified College Enforcement program, which is using Indiana’s excise police to try to cut down on underage drinking.

Former governor Mitch Daniels also passed the Indiana Lifeline Law earlier this year.

According to the Indiana Lifeline Coalition’s website, the law provides immunity from some alcohol violations to those who request medical assistance or have it requested for them.

The task force has suggested that BUPD be more consistent in alcohol policy enforcement, in addition to utilizing a summons arrest in appropriate situations.

A summons arrest is a ticket for public intoxication that requires the offender to appear in court, Stevens said.

This differs from an outright arrest, which sees an offender be put in handcuffs by a police offer, and a the more rare warrant arrest, which allows police to arrest a person of interest with regard to a crime.

Ben Hunter, chief of staff and executive director of public safety, said recent alcohol incidents on Indiana campuses are causing BUPD to be stricter in handing on summons arrests.

Hunter said two under-21 students encountered by BUPD last week had ‘extremely high’ blood alcohol content levels and were example cases for a summons arrest. One student was unresponsive and the other suffered injuries from a fall.

“My preference is when we can do a referral because I don’t want to ruin resumes,” Hunter said. “But at the same time, if we find someone with alcohol poisoning or, worst-case scenario, dead, there’s going to be all kinds of scrutiny.”

The alcohol policy section of Butler’s student handbook includes state penalties for specific alcohol-related crimes, which can range from fines up to $1,000 to jail time.

Separate from fines and arrests are sanctions imposed by the university, which have also been altered.

Click said fines for breaking alcohol laws have been rejected in favor of a community restoration project, which involves individuals giving back to the Butler community in some way.

An individual who has a major alcohol violation or accumulates multiple minor ones can also be put on conduct probation, which keeps the individual from participating in Greek recruitment and from holding a number of leadership positions on campus.

Click also said that 75 to 80 percent of student conduct cases over the last several years have involved alcohol or drugs. Some sanctions in those cases included alcohol or drug assessment and attendance at an in-house alcohol seminar.

“I think it’s a really good practice to take stock of where we’re at, and that’s what the task force did,” Diaz said.

Students React to Coming Changes
A level of anxiety seems to be felt by students toward the changes, the Greek member said.

“(The changes) add a layer of fear and pressure,” the individual said. “We’re under pressure to do everything right, but ultimately it’s for our safety.”

While the success of the task force’s recommendations cannot be fully examined until more time has passed, Diaz said she believes the university is handling alcohol issues in the correct manner.

“I’m confident that this is the way to go,” Diaz said. “I think that over time, we can shift the culture away from high-risk drinking.”