Many students at college are on their own for the first time in their lives. One part of this unsupervised freedom is the ability to drink without the constant worries associated with underage drinking in high school.
But not all students embrace the chance to drink when provided the opportunity. This year, approximately 400 students are residing in substance-free housing throughout the campus.
According to Rob Wild, assistant director of Residential Life, the idea behind substance free living is “to create an environment in which residents can voluntarily restrict substances (alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and incense) and substance-related disruptions from the community.”
Students who live in substance-free housing are expected to sign a wavier agreeing not to possess or use alcohol, tobacco, incense, or illegal or controlled drugs in their suite, room or in any of the common areas within the designated substance-free areas. Residents must also agree not to create disturbances while under the influence of alcohol or other controlled substances in any of the designated substance-free areas. Finally, all students must consent to be responsible for the behavior of their guests and to exercise reasonable care to ensure that they do not create substance-related disturbances.
The contract establishes that if a student breaks any of the terms of the agreement they can receive sanctions that can include, but are not limited to, administrative reassignment to another residence, community service, or referral to the Judicial Administrator.
Currently, the first floor of Lien, the second floors of Danforth and Shepley, the third floor of Rubelmann, and all of Beaumont and Rutledge serve as substance-free environments.
“We chose these locations based on the demand for substance-free space on the South 40,” said Wild. “We wanted to place substance-free housing in a variety of locations that reflect the variety in our student housing.”
According to Wild, over 250 incoming freshmen requested substance free-housing. To accommodate the interest, Residential Life added Rubelmann 3 as a substance-free location.
However, questions remain about the effectiveness of these locations in preventing drinking and other substance use.
Sophomore Brian Eufinger, who did not want to be around people who drank, moved into Beaumont last year mainly because of the substance-free environment provided.
But during the course of the year, Eufinger began to feel differently about alcohol and started drinking early second semester. He said he then began to see some residents of Beaumont turning against him for his drinking, because of what he sees as a lack of understanding about alcohol.
“When I went outside of Beaumont and made other types of friends, I changed from not tolerating anyone who drank, to not tolerating people who didn’t tolerate drinking,” said Eufinger.
For the most part, students enjoy the experience that they have living in the substance free housing. Freshman Christopher Koo moved into Beaumont this year. According to Koo, he chose to live in Beaumont because he wanted an environment in which he did not have to worry about being pressured into something he didn’t want to do. He believes that those students living in substance-free housing can have just as much fun as those in other dorms.
“The people here are really cool, and they don’t depend on substances to have fun. Living here [in Beaumont] is a different way to bond. I love it,” said Koo.
Some residents of substance-free areas are not so enthusiastic.
“I was not aware that it was a choice I could have made. I didn’t know I was going into that situation-my mother filled out the forms for me,” said sophomore Rob DeLeon.
DeLeon arrived at Beaumont his freshman year unaware that he was assigned to a substance-free dorm. He originally thought that there might be a problem since he drinks, but said he felt the residents of his floor became quite close despite their opposing ideals, dividing into the drinkers and the nondrinkers at the beginning of the year.
“For the most part we respected each other’s differences,” said DeLeon.
The biggest problem DeLeon found was that people viewed Beaumont differently from the other dorms.
“Some people thought we weren’t able to have fun and enjoy ourselves, but that wasn’t the case,” he explained.
Upperclassmen sometimes settle for substance-free housing because these locations are often the last rooms to be filled during the housing lottery.
“The housing process didn’t really give us much option about where to live. We were limited on our options, and combining sub-free with the normal housing option forced [me and my suitemates] to go into sub-free when we otherwise would not have,” said Dave Perlman, a sophomore living on Shepley 2.
When problems do arise in substance-free housing, it is the Residential Advisor’s responsibility to make things run smoothly. RA’s are given the option of whether or not they prefer to live on substance-free floors.
For those wanting substance-free housing, the new housing lottery system poses a few challenges. A student who lived in substance free housing freshman year is more likely to get it sophomore year.