I am of a couple of minds on this. I have two Ds in college at the moment. At my youngest Ds U. if you get caught with alcohol in your room the first time you are probation, the second time you will be expelled. The same goes if you are off campus and are arrested (frankly for a variety of reasons). The number one reason for arrest at her campus is public urination. I like this approach though unless you are in a substance free dorm you are not specifically dinged for merely being drunk underage unless you are arrested for it. They don’t publicize any good Samaritan policy though I asked them and they would not arrest or discipline someone who had been drinking if they called because they were concerned for someones safety.
At my older Ds university they do have a good Samaritan policy which they publicize. It was part of the parents video we watched at orientation. Both have seen their share of very drunk, sick, and generally misbehaving students. Neither is a student at Miami University. I think most universities publicly don’t condone underage drinking but know it occurs. Policing a midsized towns worth of students is a challenge and they will only deal with things when the behavior becomes blatant. Unfortunately in this case it became deadly.
I find it interesting that the Cincinnati Enquirer story mentioned “Blackout Thursday”. This is the type of event that I think should be dealt with fairly severely. There is a lot left unknown such as just where were these people drinking, who was serving it, were the freshmen girls encouraged to drink (with a name like blackout thursday one would be suspicious). I think if they can determine that this was an organized event and who the upperclassmen who organized it were then I think criminal charges are in order. They would be if I hosted such a party and I would likely be charged with manslaughter if someone died at my house while serving them alcohol. Legally is a 21 year old different than someone their parents age?
@studentsmom16 I do think the Greek system at Miami creates a different type of party atmosphere than OU (that’s where my younger D goes). OU’s reputation is largely due to it’s off campus parties (Halloween, over 30k people attend this party each year. Most are from out of town) and it’s Fests (Palmer Fest, essentially a block party and music festival). Both are planned and have a large police presence. OU’s Greek system exists but does not seem to be nearly as large or as selective as Miami’s. There is no doubt that students get drunk and can behave badly at times but it has a different feel than Miami does. Parties at Miami aren’t so large but they are frequent at the many fraternities and sororities and much less supervised. I get the sense that to be included in a frat party is socially important and that drinking is seen as a benefit given only to those included. Even those not in the Greek system are affected by it. Being Greek at OU doesn’t carry near the cachet or social importance that it does at MU.