With a rise in alcohol-related student transports to the hospital this fall, various University institutions are hoping to make on- and off-campus parties safer.
The Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives recorded 96 student transports to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania so far this semester — nearly a 25-percent increase over the 77 transports by this time last year.
Records include undergraduate, graduate and professional students. Most of this year’s cases consist of students being examined and released in the emergency room rather than being admitted into the hospital, according to Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives Director Julie Lyzinski.
College House and Academic Services Director Leslie Delauter wrote in an e-mail that she suspects the higher numbers are a result of “a combination of better reporting/data collection on our part as well as perhaps some anxiety about the economy, job market, environment.”
The increase comes after alcohol-related incidents during New Student Orientation increased 37 percent from last year’s rates.
MERT, or Medical Emergency Response Team, is a student-run organization that works closely with the Division of Public Safety to assist in student medical cases across campus every night. According to MERT Chief and College and Wharton senior Sourav Bose, “around half” of his team’s responses this year were to alcohol-related incidents, while the other 50 percent addressed “trauma and other medical issues.”
Monitored jointly by the Interfraternity Council’s Judicial Inquiry Board, the Office of Student Life/Fraternity Sorority Affairs, the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives and the Office of Student Conduct, registered on-campus events must abide by Penn’s Alcohol and Drug Policy. The policy dictates that organizers must “have adequate means for identifying of-age drinkers” and prohibits “drinking contests or games of any sort,” among other stipulations. Violation of the policy results in possible disciplinary action.
These terms, however, apply solely to on-campus events. Lyzinski expressed concern for “the apparent increase of high-risk, off-campus events,” as these generally occur in private residences and are not subject to University jurisdiction.
A goal of the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives is “to create dialogue around the issue of off-campus events” through a “centralized” approach, involving Penn Police, College Houses and Academic Services, OSC and student leaders.
“These conversations along with continued encouragement of students to seek help when needed are necessary efforts to help maintain a safe, healthy campus environment,” Lyzinski wrote in an e-mail.
College houses collaborate with the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives to address on-campus alcohol incidents. According to Delauter, residential assistants help ensure the safety of students who are under the influence through a “very personal investment in making sure the resident gets through the night with nothing worse than a hangover.”
Penn’s medical amnesty policy ensures the confidentiality of those students who seek medical help “for the sole purpose of alcohol or other drug consumption,” Lyzinski wrote. However, she noted, “if part of the incident involves the student injuring another person, being belligerent with police, defacing property or another behavioral infraction,” the case may be considered a violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
