As of Feb. 3, North Central College Campus Safety reported 45 alcohol-related incidents involving more than 100 students since the fall term. Forty-six of those incidents were classified as being in violation of the college’s drinking policies. Though it is a slight decrease compared to the reported incidents from the fall term, the on-campus drinking policy at NCC has sparked new trends and local attention.
As a private college with only 1,500 students living on campus, there are only 12 residence halls on campus where students drink. While students are limited when it comes to places to drink due to NCC’s small size, this does not mean that it does not happen. Is there an on-campus drinking culture at NCC, and if so, how do we define it?
“We try to eliminate the culture of alcohol on campus, but we also assume that (students) do that on their own,” said Associate Dean of Students Jeremy Gudauskas.
In the case of private colleges like NCC, Gudauskas’ assumption may be correct. The Chronicle and SGA sent out a survey to NCC students in order to gather data about their on-campus drinking habits. A total of 50 students responded to the survey.
Out of the 50 students, 20 were male and 30 were female. The majority of the survey respondents were freshmen and seniors. Being that freshmen are still adapting to their first year of college, drinking at different campus dorms is the most common trend for them. They are introduced to new peers in this way, including many upperclassmen. Seniors, on the other hand, are celebrating the end of another term, as they get closer to graduation and saying goodbye to their friends.
The survey asked students where, on campus, they participated in drinking the most. The top three on-campus locations were Naper Place, Seager Hall and Patterson Hall. The majority of students also said that they drank most often during weeks 1 (Welcome Week), six, nine and 10 (finals week).
These results indicate that students prefer drinking after they settle into their classes and their midterms are finished. They are used to their own schedules and are able to work parties into the free time they have left. Then, when they do have free time, they use it to binge-drink.
“Some students are still surprised to learn that binge-drinking leads to overconsuming,” said Gudauskas. “We have had a few medical examinations taken in (reported) already.”
The hard part about drinking on campus, however, is attending a party, hosting a party or storing alcohol without having Campus Safety issuing citations.
“It’s harder to be more secretive on (this) campus,” said Gudauskas. “It’d be easier (for Campus Safety to issue citations) if we had a dry campus.”
Respondent knowledge of the drinking policies on campus were surprisingly high, with 82 percent saying that they were aware of the on-campus drinking policies at NCC. Also, 86 percent of respondents have not received a warning or citation from Campus Safety regarding a potential violation of NCC alcohol policies.
“From when they are freshmen, students come into college knowing of these things ahead of time,” said Gudauskas. “It still affects everyone’s choice in the matter and helps determine what motivates them to drink. There’s a (student) aspect that drinking is the point of what a college community does or what it should be. They just do what they’re friends do on the weekends.”
More than half of the respondents said that they have kept a combination of beer, wine and hard liquor inside their dorm rooms. Even though some of these residence halls are dry and students are aware of the on-campus drinking policies, alcohol is still secretly brought into dorms.
