In June 2007, a panel appointed by SMU President R. Gerald Turner concluded that alcohol abuse was a serious problem among students. The panel, or “Task Force,” formed after three SMU students died from drug or alcohol related deaths. Dozens of recommendations were made by the task force and President Turner accepted, virtually, all of them.
Has SMU made real progress in addressing the alcohol abuse problem amongst students? Over one year later, that remains an unanswered question.
According to SMU Police Officer Jerry Perez, “the majority of alcohol-related violations are given to freshman and sophomores in on-campus dormitories.”
In 2006 there were 230 alcohol violations given to students. In 2007 there were 316, and finally in 2008 there were 229 violations given out. All of the alcohol related violations that SMU PD gives out are on campus. According to the SMU Common Data Set for 2008-2009, 95 percent of freshman students live on campus. Sixy-nine percent of all other undergraduate students live in off-campus housing. These statistics show that there is no way of monitoring what is happening with the junior and senior students.
The SMU Department of Judicial Affairs declined to comment on this matter.
The student deaths that sparked the creation of the task force occurred during the 2006-2007 school year. The first of the three was Jacob Stiles. He was found dead in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house in December 2006 in what was ruled to be a drug-alcohol related death.
The second occurred when 19-year-old Jordan Crist was found dead in his dormitory room, from what was ruled to be the result of acute alcohol poisoning. The third death occurred in May 2007 when 21-year-old Meaghan Bosch was found dead due to a drug-alcohol overdose.
The substance abuse task force implemented several new policies to help reduce alcohol abuse among students. Some notable changes include the elimination of “Passive Participation,” and the creation of a “medical amnesty” and a “Good Samaritan” policy. In addition, the on-campus health center has expanded its hours to 3:00 a.m. on Thursday-Sunday incase of an emergency.
Ben Kooperferstock, a resident advisor in Boaz Hall, believes that in regards to the task force, “progress has been made, although we’re far from where we really need to be as far as alcohol goes. I think there is still far too much binge drinking on this campus. A lot of people don’t understand how to drink responsibly.”
Not all students believe that SMU has made real progress in addressing student alcohol abuse.
Twenty-two year old Nick Ciriaco believes that “with higher restrictions, students tend to binge drink more because they have fewer chances to drink. The task force should focus on teaching us how to drink responsibly instead of prosecuting and giving students violations. They should protect and serve instead of intimidate,”
Twenty-one year old Kirk Miller believes that “the only difference that the task force has brought is that they patrol the fraternity houses and dormitories more often.”
Regardless of student and faculty opinions the question still remains: has SMU made real progress in addressing the problem with student drinking? With almost 70 percent of all non-freshman undergraduate students living off-campus and their actions largely unaccounted for, it still remains an unanswered question.