Official: No plan for alcohol notifications
Several colleges and universities including Virginia Tech and Purdue have recently implemented polices that notify parents of underage students caught drinking.
But Director of Residence Life LaTika Webster said Franklin has no plans to implement such a policy.
Virginia Tech’s policy states that no student under 21 may drink, possess alcohol or be caught intoxicated in public. If an underage student is caught in any of these situations, the college notifies the parents.
According to Steven Clarke, the director of the College Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center at Virginia Tech, the campus implemented the policy due to the increase of first violations being major violations. The Virginia Tech Web site defines a major violation as when a student puts their health and safety at risk. It also includes when the intoxicated student hurts, disturbs or endangers others.
For a first major violation, a student is given a deferred suspension, Clarke said.
He said Virginia Tech hopes that by getting parents involved earlier in the process, they can prevent the issue from escalating into a more serious problem. Other colleges in Virginia, such as Radford University, have a parental notification policy.
Clarke said the policy, which was implemented in January, is still being evaluated and that it will take time to see if this is a better policy.
Purdue’s policy sends parents a letter if a student’s actions are "detrimental."
Franklin College takes a different approach. Webster called it an educating approach to alcohol violations.
Similar to Virginia Tech, underage students are not allowed to consume or possess alcohol, or be publicly intoxicated. If a student violates one of these rules, the college doesn’t notify parents.
"[Parental notification] is not typical," Webster said.
Instead, the college’s judiciary system looks at each situation and then determines what punishment should be given. The alcohol policy is flexible to each situation.
Franklin College aims to "educate and give students the tools they need to better handle the situation," Webster said. "The No. 1 goal is to educate and hold students accountable for their actions."
Webster said there would be different factors to consider – like student rights and responsibilities – when considering this policy; there would have to be a significant increase in the number of major alcohol incidents. Such a policy is not currently being discussed, Webster said.
Freshman Emily Farrow said the parental notification policy would be "ridiculous, since a college student, at 18, is a legal adult. You are not a child, and the violation should be handled between the student and the college."
If such a policy would be put in place, freshman Kyle Martin said he would be "OK with it, but the college should give the student a certain number of chances."
