Revised Alcohol Policy At Farmingdale State College
Last Wednesday, the Farmingdale State College Council called a special meeting in the president’s boardroom to address the revised student alcohol policy drafted for potential adoption for the upcoming fall semester.
Presenting the policy to the council were Farmingdale State College’s (FSC) Health and Wellness Director Kevin Murphy and College Prevention Coordinator Kelsey Russell.
“What our goals were when we crafted this policy, it was manyfold. But we were looking to have something that identified a reasonable amount of alcohol that we could expect a student to consume, along with providing them with educational opportunities to learn how to drink responsibly and what to do in a situation where they encounter a student who maybe has had too much to drink and could be facing some adverse health consequences from it,” Murphy explained to the council. “We incorporated a good Samaritan policy into this, so if a student came across another student who had drank too much and they happened to be drinking with them, they could contact university police and not be held liable for their own possibly bad decisions.”
The policy, which will be distributed to all students, states in its summary that “the health and safety of every student at FSC is of the utmost importance,” which is why those present for the special meeting agreed that the included good Samaritan policy was crucial to the revised policy’s success. Along with the good Samaritan guidelines, the new policy also includes Red Watch Band training, which “is a bystander intervention program that aims to prevent toxic drinking deaths.” This training is required to be completed by all students over the age of 21 who live in a residence hall and wish to consume alcohol in their dorm or wish to have of-age guests in their dorm to drink. Upon completion of the training, students will receive a certificate of completion, an identifying sticker for their student ID card and the privilege to drink alcohol alone or with a guest in their dorm. This sticker is required for all students who wish to consume alcohol on campus—commuters may receive the sticker from campus police.
“All of the resident students will be required to undergo this Red Watch Band training so that they will be trained in identifying someone who is at risk for an alcohol intoxication, and the procedure to go through to make sure that we don’t have any tragedies,” Murphy stated. “Commuter students are fully involved with this. They’re expected to follow the same standards that our resident students would follow. Commuter students, they wouldn’t be required to go under the training, but they would be held to the same standards of how much alcohol they could bring into a room of one of their friends that they’re visiting.”
The revised policy also includes updated guidelines on the quantity of alcohol each student may consume during an on-campus event where libations are served. Students will be allowed to have no more than two “standard drinks,” which are defined as one 12-ounce beer or wine cooler, one five-ounce glass of wine and 1.5 ounces of no greater than 80-proof distilled spirits. In the dorm, students may only possess one of the following: six 12-ounce beers, one liter of wine or 500 milliliters of no greater than 80-proof distilled spirits.
Strictly enforced in the policy is that students under the age of 21 are restricted from drinking alcohol, even if they share a dorm with someone of age. Students of age are only permitted to drink in their dorm or at university-sanctioned events. Alcohol is prohibited at sporting events. Campus events where alcohol will be served requires of-age students to wear a wristband with two tabs. Each time they receive a drink, a tab will be removed from the band, therefore limiting the student’s consumption to two drinks.
Included in the policy are disciplinary actions to be taken should students not comply with the given guidelines. Among these actions are referrals to the FSC Alcohol and Other Drug Counselor, suspension from the residence halls, social probation, suspensions and expulsion.
“It’s all prevention based to make this a safer campus, limit the liability we have as an institution, while giving the students the tools to make these responsible decisions as adults,” Murphy said.
After the policy presentation, the college council took a vote and a chorus of “aye’s” rang out, thereby adopting the revised policy for the fall semester.
