I needed to ship a few oddly shaped items to my kid (like shoes and Crew shampoo and energy bars) and I was walking past this cool craft liquor store down the street from me (the kind where all of the employees have big beards and wear plaid flannel shirts) and I saw this great box they had left outside for something like Tin Soldier Bourbon. It was a GREAT box with a stylized tin soldier/revolutionary war thing on the side. Sturdy. Exactly the right size. So I snagged it, packed it up, and sent it to the dorm. My kid texted me this morning, “Mom, what were you thinking?” Because the word bourbon (small, at the bottom) was on the box, he received a call that he had to come downstairs and open the box in front of the supervisor and go through each item before they would let him take it. Oh. So, back to recycled amazon boxes for me.
Good grief. Because of course every care package is shipped in a carton with the exact contents printed on the outside. And, on a side note, liquor stores really do have great boxes - they have to be somewhat sturdy to support shipping several bottles inside. Those, and boxes that once held reams of paper are my favorites.
I think the school may be cautious as liquor can be ordered by mail in some states.
With the plethora of items you can purchase over the internet I think that’s a fair policy. Perhaps @SouthernHope you should change your screen name to Southern Comfort. 
Years ago, I sent my daughter some sheets while she was at summer camp, because the ones she’d brought with her didn’t fit properly. The director had her open the box in front of him, then he felt the sheets to make sure I hadn’t smuggled any contraband candy in them. I was pretty shocked when she told me that some parents actually tried to circumvent the rules by sending their kids candy inside teddy bears, hollowed out books, etc. Why send your kid to a camp than bans this stuff (and really, they got it for free at the camp store twice a week–the rule was to prevent critters in the cabins) if you don’t like the rules?
I’m surprised that a college did this, though. Most of them have rules about underage drinking, but tend to turn a blind eye to the drinking that does go on. And if you’re going to sneak them some bourbon, wouldn’t you put it in a box that said Bed Bath and Beyond, anyway?
My son got written up for having an empty alcohol container used as a decoration. Anything that once contained alcohol is a write up and a fine in his dorm at a state flagship. They have really cracked down since my days in the dorms.
“Mom,what were you thinking?”
Um, where is the bourbon?
This post is funny to me on two counts: I manage a wine store and when I ship wine to customers it can never be in the original box as fedex and UPS won’t take a box advertising liquor. On the other hand, my son’s boxes left at school over summer are always easily located as all of his stuff is in wine boxes. 
Side note: Son is extremely anti-drinking which makes it all the funnier.
I wouldn’t use either a wine or a liquor box. It’s more likely to be stolen, either en route or when it reaches its destination. Potential thieves aren’t going to open it up before purloining the box. They may grab and run.
@UCMom19 My husband gets regular deliveries via fedex of wine with the word “Wine” on the outside of the box. What exactly is deemed to be advertising?
@doschicos Hmmm, is it otherwise generic looking? The laws for shipping intoxicating liquids are crazy. I just do what I’m told.
@UCMom19 Just a plain looking box with the name of the company on it which includes “Wine” in big letters. No crazy images or photos of bottles. I know some of those liquor boxes can be quite flashy. Probably because it is part of the company name/logo it is not deemed as advertising.
https://pe.usps.com/text/pub52/pub52c2_013.htm
Mailing boxes that previously held hazardous materials or alcohol is prohibited by the USPS unless completely blacked out or covered.
Obviously, based on this post, they don’t enforce it well.
@southernhope - I couldn’t help but notice that you did not specify whether this GREAT box was empty or full when you snagged it.
@Massmomm Exactly what I was thinking. Put it in a non-descript box, perhaps even pour it out of the bourbon bottle and into a Swell or Yeti. In high school, the girls would pour wine coolers into empty hairspray bottles (this was in the '80 when big hair required big hairspray).
@NorthernMom61 Thanks! Now I know I wasn’t imagining it.
Yikes, @tutumom2001 , drinking from repurposed hairspray bottles sounds dangerous! But I guess kids will do anything to sneak booze!
Or adults. I was at a music festival this summer and folks in their at least 60s on the blanket near us were spiking their lemonade out of sunscreen bottles.
My kid lived in a dorm with no central office/desk. None of the dorms at this large-ish private have anyone monitoring packages. No desk or office. Nada. So packages were delivered directly to each persons door. (No there was not an issue with theft). I didn’t know how unusual this was til my second kid pointed it out when we went on tours for her.