Student-friendlier policies are the hallmark of the Drug Task Force’s recommendations for changes in enforcement. The group calls for the elimination of SMU’s passive participation policy and the creation of medical amnesty and a Good Samaritan policy.
The report states the passive participation rule is “self-defeating” and hopes that the elimination of it will “clarify our commitment to the safety of students.” The task force prefaces this by acknowledging the rule was created for students to hold each other accountable, but an overwhelming amount of parents and students felt like it unfairly punished those who weren’t drinking.
A Good Samaritan policy would encourage students to call for help if a friend is in need of medical assistance without the fear of being punished themselves. However, the task force says Judicial Affairs would still reserve the right in certain cases to call in students for questioning and could still be forced to take educational classes on drugs and alcohol.
The report points to a similar policy at Dartmouth College as a model for SMU.
Medical amnesty is the same as the Good Samaritan policy except it applies to the student who needs medical attention. He or she can call for help without facing sanctions from the school. Students would still receive monitoring after the fact, according to the report, to check on the student’s health.
The report provides examples of similar policies at Emory University and Tulane University as examples for SMU to follow.
Creating a central source for gathering and acting upon “reports of students exhibiting signs of distress” is one way the task force believes it can prevent students from having problems with drugs or alcohol. The report cites the Virginia Tech incident as one where bits and pieces of information signaling a student-in-crisis were unable to be put together on a university-wide level. It says such a central source is necessary for SMU so that different resources currently in place can talk to each other.
“At SMU last year, we know that people were aware that the students who died were in some trouble, but no critical mass of information reached anyone charged with responding,” the report says.
The task force recommends that the Judicial Affairs office review on an on-going basis the judicial procedures and policies of the school. Student focus groups told the task force that the office often renders sanctions that are unfair, excessive or sometimes too mild and ineffective as disciplinary tools. The report states that community service might be more appropriate in some cases rather than fines because paying the money is easier for most students.
A group of representatives from various departments on campus would be created to meet with local restaurant and bar owners to prevent underage drinking and begin a dialogue over other issues. The task force said this recommendation is to get SMU out of the bubble and into the surrounding community.
SMU Police would place an officer on the Texas High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force to create stronger ties with other law enforcement agencies and to help deal with drug problems in and around the SMU campus.
