The University announced a new alcohol policy Tuesday that allows for parental notification, mandates an online alcohol assessment for freshmen and encourages students to seek help in emergencies.

University officials announced the changes in an e-mail sent to all students by Provost Richard Lariviere Tuesday morning.

The changes come on the heels of two alcohol-related student deaths during the past two months.

“Some will say KU was late to the game, but we had our policies and we re-evaluated, and we think we’re doing everything possible,” said Marlesa Roney, vice provost of Student Success.

Amnesty

The first change institutes an amnesty policy, which will protect from punishment any underage student who seeks immediate medical assistance in alcohol-related emergencies.

Lariviere said in the e-mail that this change was made after students said they were reluctant to get help for alcohol-related health issues because they feared getting themselves or their campus housing organizations in trouble.

“While that should never stop you from getting help for a friend in trouble, eliminating the threat of being written up takes away that reason to not seek help,” Lariviere said.

Many schools began implementing similar systems after Cornell University pioneered the idea with its “Good Samaritan” policy in 2002. According to a 2006 study in the International Journal of Drug Policy, the number of Cornell students who called for help in alcohol-related emergencies doubled after the policy was created, though alcohol abuse rates remained relatively constant.

Parental

notification

KU officials will now be able to notify the parents of underage students who are caught violating alcohol or drug policy on campus. The policy goes into effect immediately.

Roney said the intent was not to punish students, rather to educate them.

“It’s about helping students,” she said. “We want to make sure not another KU student dies from alcohol.”

Jay Wren, the father of Jason Wren, a freshman who died from suspected alcohol poisoning March 8 in the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house, said he thought the changes were positive.

“I know it will save lives and I only wish they had been in place before, but this is exactly what needed to be done,” Wren said in an e-mail. “There is no doubt this will save lives.”

Roney said that she expected many students to react negatively to the parental notification policy and that those reactions probably factored into the reason that the policy had not been addressed before.

“I don’t really like it at all,” Bea Kilat, Salina freshman and Lewis Hall resident, said of the changes. “I think the University should be doing something, but I just don’t completely agree with my records being released to my parents without me being able to sign a release form or something like that.”

Kilat said she thought she should have more control over her records because she was a legal adult.

Online

assessment

Another change would require freshmen such as Kilat to complete a mandatory online alcohol assessment within the first six weeks of class. The change will go into effect for the fall semester.

Jori Krenzel, Chanute freshman, said she didn’t know whether the policy changes would stop people from drinking, but she said she would take advantage of the new amnesty policy. She said she thought more could be done to help students be better aware of alcohol poisoning and how to deal with it.

“I think all these policies are good, but I think campus should do more programs to help students identify alcohol poisoning,” Krenzel said.

She said she wished the University provided more proactive programming to inform students about how to help friends who show signs of alcohol poisoning.

Stephanie Patyk, Wichita junior, who worked with the University as part of an alcohol task force last year, said she thought that the policy changes, while an improvement, would not be enough to curtail abusive drinking on campus.

“I don’t know how much more it’ll do because a lot of it falls to the parents,” Patyk said. “I think the University’s doing all they can, especially because it’s an institution not a parent. At a certain point, you’re an adult. The University can’t watch every single move every 40,000 students make. It’s not feasible.”

The University has formed the Community Alcohol Coalition to continue to assess alcohol use on campus and to provide a community approach to the problem.

The coalition includes Mason Heilman, Lawrence junior and student body president, the chief of Lawrence Police, a representative of the Lawrence Bar Owner’s Association, Roney, and athletics director Lew Perkins.

Roney said more new policies and changes were expected in the coming weeks and months.

Alexandra Garry contributed to the reporting of this story.

— — Edited by Liz Schubauer