Stanford's lenient drinking policy bottoms up

By Matthew Meyerhofer

It's no secret that colleges vary in how strictly they enforce their alcohol policies, but it might surprise some students to learn how wide that difference really is.

According to statistics compiled by the Department of Education in 2001, 728 on-campus referrals were issued at Santa Clara for liquor law violations. How many were written up in the same year at Stanford University?

None.

The reason for such a big difference lies in Stanford's tradition of lax enforcement, which is rooted in a firm belief that students are responsible for their own behavior. While the official policy states that students who unlawfully use alcohol may be subject disciplinary action, students are not written up for violations inside their own residence halls, and Resident Assistants (RAs) are not responsible for issuing citations. That power is restricted to dormitory staff.

Starting next fall, alcohol will be prohibited in Stanford's freshmen-only dorms, and underage students will not be allowed to drink in hallways and lounges. However, students will not be written up in their own rooms, which the university considers private space.

"This is what has set Stanford apart from its peers," says Gene Awakuni, Stanford's Vic0e Provost for Student Affairs, "is our trust in students' ability to do the right thing."

More than 2,000 students and alumni have already signed a petition protesting the new policy.

Santa Clara has a somewhat different attitude toward the enforcement of underage drinking laws.

Santa Clara has a somewhat different attitude toward the enforcement of underage drinking laws.

"I believe that this University has both a legal and moral responsibility to enforce alcohol laws on campus, said Campus Safety Director Charles Arolla. "To do otherwise is to send a misleading message that it's okay to drink if you are underage, but just don't get caught."

This sentiment echoes Santa Clara's official alcohol policy, which "recognizes that the process of establishing personal independence requires support and, at times, assistance or intervention."

Stanford's policy is far from a de facto standard. Schools such as UC Berkeley and Harvard have policies more in line with that of Santa Clara. However, according to the US Department of Education, Santa Clara annually issues more write-ups than large University of California campuses such as UC Davis and UC Berkeley, and other Californian Jesuit schools such as the University of San Francisco and Loyola Marymount.

Some students question whether or not Santa Clara's alcohol policy has any meaningful effect on the drinking culture at the university.

"Students are going to drink regardless of what the rules are," says freshman Matthew Barnette, "[The administration] should be concerned about the students' safety, not about enforcing certain moral values."

Some students feel that the university doesn't accomplish much by reprimanding students who drink responsibly.

"I think they should let students drink in their own rooms, and shouldn't worry about it as long as the students aren't creating a disturbance," said sophomore Grant Osborne.

Although Stanford did not issue any referrals to its students for underage drinking in 2001, Stanford police did write 63 tickets for liquor law violations, while the Santa Clara Police Department wrote none.

"Alcohol abuse is the No. 1 health and safety issue at Santa Clara," said Arolla.

Campus Safety responds to between two and five incidents of alcohol-related illness on Wednesday and weekend nights.

All freshman students are required to take an online class about alcohol use and abuse, and Santa Clara has recently applied for a federal grant specifically designed to combat binge drinking on campus.