From: W.E.B. DuBois College House On Behalf Of Trish C. Williams Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 4:21 PM To: DUBOIS@LISTS.UPENN.EDU Subject: Intoxicated Friends and Penn's Policies
Dear Family:
I wanted to clarify a statement I made recently, which some of you may have misconstrued. In a recent email I stated that residents should avoid bringing home drunken friends and that students who bring drunken friends into our home would be sent to the First Step program. This statement was primarily motivated by my desire to protect both the physical condition and reputation of the House for the benefit of you, the residents. As I suggested in that email, I am very proud of the fact that Du Bois College House is home to so many responsible, hard-working students, and I really hate the idea that anyone's impression of the House might be influenced by a few de-contextualized statistics on alcohol incidents.
More important than clarifying my own motivations, however, I wanted to make sure that you understand that your safety is my first priority. Though I may have sounded as though I meant to punish students who bring drunken friends home to Du Bois by sending them to First Step, I want to correct that impression by clarifying exactly what the First Step Program and the Amnesty Program are. The Amnesty Policy was created to encourage both the inebriated student (who could be suffering from alcohol poisoning) as well as any concerned friend(s) to seek help from staff without fear of punishment. While I don't love the idea of your bringing drunken friends to Du Bois (especially if you pass their own residences to do so), I would certainly prefer that you bring them here if there was any question about their safety or yours. So, please be assured that you would not be punished for looking out for a friend's safety.
The second point I want to make is that First Step is not a punitive program, but is instead a harm-reduction and preventive program that seeks to educate students about the potential negative consequences of drinking. The University does not require students to attend First Step if they sought help under the Amnesty Policy. I might recommend that a student and his/her friend attend First Step, but only because I want them to learn how to take better care of themselves to be safe. This has ALWAYS been my message to students whom I have referred to this program.
Du Bois is a college house where excessive drinking behaviors are rare and I am very passionate about maintaining the positive behaviors of most of our residents. It is this passion that was reflected in the email I wrote earlier this week about recent drinking incidents in the House. I hope that with this email, however, you have a better understanding of how various aspects of the University's alcohol policy get applied in the House. The University's primary concern in creating this policy is student safety. I hope that you all know me well enough to know that it is my primary concern, as well.
Thanks, Ms. Trish
