Consequences for Underage Drinking at VCU

Anyone who has lived in a VCU freshman dorm knows that our university has no qualms about enforcing the 21 drinking age and yet many students risk the trouble at least in part because they aren't fully aware of the consequences. Furthermore, many underage students mistakenly assume that if they drink off campus, VCU cannot punish them. In truth, VCU spends a lot of time and money preventing underage drinking and disciplining students who violate their rules.

The VCU Alcohol and Drug Policy clearly states: "...the unlawful or unauthorized manufacture, distribution, dispensation, possession or use of alcohol and illicit drugs by employees and students on University property or as part of any University activity is prohibited. Any employee or student who violates this policy is subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment, expulsion from the University, referral for prosecution, and/or referral for satisfactory participation in an appropriate evaluation or rehabilitation program."

In other words, VCU adheres to both state and federal guidelines regarding alcohol consumption for both their students and employees. Simply put, no one under 21 years of age may legally drink alcohol and faculty and staff may not drink during work hours without jeopardizing their jobs.

What then happens to students who disobey these rules? The short answer is that it depends on whether or not the students drink on or off campus. More specifically, even then the office of Judicial Affairs and Academic Integrity claims a lot of discretion.

Punishments for underage drinking on campus varies "on a case by case basis," says Karen Belanger, director of Judicial Affairs and Academic Integrity at VCU. Punishments may include any of the following, and likely a combination of two or more: a judicial sanction, a letter sent home to parents, academic probation, a talk with Dean of Students Dr. Reuban Rodriguez and/or an alcohol education class. Alcohol poisoning requires a five-hour education class and the filing of a personal assessment afterwards. Underage drinking in combination with vandalism, violence or other drug use may lead to suspension or even expulsion, depending upon the severity of the crime.

Punishments for underage drinking off campus varies, as well; the primary difference is that each case lies in the hands of Richmond first and foremost, not VCU. If they choose to do so, the Richmond City Police may refer a case to VCU's office of Judicial Affairs and Academic Integrity for further discipline but they are not required to do so.

Student athletes do not receive different treatment for underage drinking on or off campus, unless their team and/or department heads decide to punish them. Societies or organizations that awarded them scholarships may also choose to revoke them.

According to the Underage Drinking Enforcement Center Training Center, the health care, crime, and work loss associated with underage drinking costs $1.2 billion in Virginia tax money in 2005. Across the country, those costs added up to $60.3 billion in the same year. (The Underage Drinking Enforcement Center Training Center is a project of Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation and was founded by as the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, within the U.S. Department of Justice.

Considering that public Virginia colleges and universities spend billions of dollars in both private and public funding towards preventing and disciplining underage drinking every year, a question that faculty, staff, students and their families often raise is why VCU cannot and does not lower the campus drinking age to save that money for other education initiatives.

Linda Hancock, Assistant Director Of Health Promotion at VCU, says, "Alcohol is a legal product that our culture has chosen to use...I am a very big fan for opening up discussion about the drinking age. In our culture, we get caught up on the age thing. I'm not a big fan of 'Just Say No' because it doesn't work."

Hancock is a strong support of Choose Responsibility's motto of "Balance, Maturity, Common Sense." Choose Responsibility is a non-profit organization that stresses the importance of public discussion about smart and informed drinking, especially for legal adults between the ages of 18 to 20. She advises perhaps leaving the purchasing age at 21 but lowering the actual drinking age to 18, "so a 19-year old who drinks responsibly wouldn't get in trouble. It's about knowing how to drink."

But despite what Hancock believes, the reality is that her suggestions will unlikely take affect for years, if ever.

"..no state would ever lower the drinking age with the laws in place now because they can't afford to," Hancock says. She points out the penalty imposed by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, which reduces the federal highway appropriation for any state that sets its drinking age below 21. So far, no state has taken that action because it would mean billions of fewer dollars for highway construction.

In contrast to Hancock, Belanger states that she is not informed enough to have an opinion about lowering the drinking age but she realizes that the drinking age does impact the VCU community. She cites the Amethyst Initiative (http://www.amethystinitiative.org/) as a helpful resource for anyone interested in the subject. The Amethyst Initiative, like Choose Responsibility, encourages discussion about rethinking the drinking age and provides useful statistics.

So until (or unless) the national Congress decides otherwise, the 21 drinking age is here to stay and VCU will continue enforcing it.