2008 Woodie Awards
With no-go on ResLife, SSDP targets RAs
Nathan Cohen
Issue date: 10/4/07 Section: News
In a "last-ditch" effort to get better treatment for students accused of using drugs in dorms, university activists are asking resident assistants not to immediately call police or write students up if they smell or suspect drug use.
The university's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy is asking RAs to use discretion before calling police when they smell marijuana in their halls because of the harsh consequences that come with drug violations. Those punishments include expulsion from housing at the university level, and arrest and automatic loss of state and federal financial aid if the case enters the judicial system.
"As you know, university policy dictates that students caught with marijuana be automatically evicted from the residence halls and suspended or expelled," states the letter the group has distributed to most North Campus RAs. Over the next week, they expect to deliver a total of 250 letters. "But as you also know, most of your residents don't deserve such harsh punishments for a relatively minor and common offense."
After months of lobbying for looser punishments for students caught with marijuana, the Department of Resident Life budged slightly this summer. Previously, community directors who doled out punishments would automatically suspend residents from housing for at least a year. Now community assistants can simply suspend students for a semester or less if they have a "small" amount of marijuana. The punishments for any large amounts remains the same.
"Something we didn't want to suggest [in a policy change] was that the university would literally be more tolerant [of marijuana]," said Steven Petkas, associate director of Resident Life.
Unsatisfied with the change - which would have only saved four of 92 students accused of using marijuana in the dorms during the past two years, according to Petkas - the activists are using letters as a last resort to curb the number of students who get in trouble for marijuana violations in their rooms.
The university's chapter of Students for Sensible Drug Policy is asking RAs to use discretion before calling police when they smell marijuana in their halls because of the harsh consequences that come with drug violations. Those punishments include expulsion from housing at the university level, and arrest and automatic loss of state and federal financial aid if the case enters the judicial system.
"As you know, university policy dictates that students caught with marijuana be automatically evicted from the residence halls and suspended or expelled," states the letter the group has distributed to most North Campus RAs. Over the next week, they expect to deliver a total of 250 letters. "But as you also know, most of your residents don't deserve such harsh punishments for a relatively minor and common offense."
After months of lobbying for looser punishments for students caught with marijuana, the Department of Resident Life budged slightly this summer. Previously, community directors who doled out punishments would automatically suspend residents from housing for at least a year. Now community assistants can simply suspend students for a semester or less if they have a "small" amount of marijuana. The punishments for any large amounts remains the same.
"Something we didn't want to suggest [in a policy change] was that the university would literally be more tolerant [of marijuana]," said Steven Petkas, associate director of Resident Life.
Unsatisfied with the change - which would have only saved four of 92 students accused of using marijuana in the dorms during the past two years, according to Petkas - the activists are using letters as a last resort to curb the number of students who get in trouble for marijuana violations in their rooms.
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