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Published:
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Saratogian
The coverage in Tuesday’s Saratogian reporting the
participation of Skidmore students in Monday’s
“National Pot Smokers Day” has galvanized a
community-wide discussion about drug use by young
people, not only at Skidmore but in our local
schools.
This is an important discussion, and Skidmore will
play a major role in it. At President Glotzbach’s
request and in cooperation with Saratoga County
District Attorney James Murphy III, we will soon
host a meeting of local law enforcement agencies,
the Prevention Council and others at which we will
explore new approaches to the issue of drug and
alcohol use by teens and young adults, both on the
Skidmore campus and in the wider Saratoga community.
It’s unfortunate, however, that The Saratogian’s
coverage also left readers with the impression that
students who violate our drug and alcohol policies
suffer no consequences.
Of course they do.
Our student conduct code spells out four levels of
sanctions that may be imposed for violations of our
drug and alcohol policies. At the lowest level,
first offenders who are caught with small amounts of
marijuana are censured and assessed a fine. In
addition, their parents are notified and they are
required to participate in an on-campus education
program or be assessed at their own expense by a
certified provider for alcohol or drug addiction.
At the highest level, first offenders who are caught
with larger amounts of marijuana face penalties that
are much stiffer. These include police notification,
a fine and possible dismissal from the college or
suspension from a campus residence, all of which we
have done.
Last fall alone, from our student population of
2,400, we referred students 251 times for violations
of our drug and alcohol policies and imposed
disciplinary sanctions in 148 of those cases.
We took no action against students who participated
in the events of April 20 because Campus Safety
officers who were monitoring the event periodically
throughout the day observed no students to be openly
in violation of the college’s policies. This is an
understandable consequence of patrols by uniformed
officers: Offenders can quickly conceal what they’re
doing as an officer approaches.
Looking forward, Student Affairs and Campus Safety
are discussing a variety of steps we might take in
the future to make sure students who are attending
open events are in compliance with the law and our
own policies.
The Skidmore student handbook says it well: The
abuse of alcohol and drugs undermines the academic
mission of the college through its correlation with
a host of problems, including lowered academic
accomplishment, sexual violence and vandalism. We
will not ignore violations of the law or Skidmore
regulations. We have held — and will continue to
hold — students accountable for conduct that
undermines the vitality of the academic community.
At the same time, we believe also in aggressively
educating our students about these issues, equipping
them to make better choices about their own health
and safety. We look forward in coming weeks and
months to exploring with our community partners how,
by combining forces, we might more effectively
extend this process to young people throughout the
Saratoga community.
Rochelle Calhoun is Dean
of Student Affairs at Skidmore College.
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