Tech has big plans in its future dealing with alcohol-related emergencies on campus. Ed Boucher, dean of students, is currently composing a policy to help reduce the number of alcohol-related emergencies that go unreported each year on campus. “A medical amnesty policy seeks to decrease the likelihood that a student will hesitate to seek help in an alcohol or drug-related emergency by granting amnesty,” Boucher said. “We’re not being a trailblazer, we are trying to be ethical.”
Studies among large universities across the U. S., have shown that students are hesitant to report alcohol-related emergencies for two main reasons. First, students don’t recognize the emergency. Second, the main target of this policy, people are afraid they will be punished, resulting in no action being taken.
Other universities such as Harvard, Brown, Tennessee State, and many others have already put an alcohol and drug policy into effect.
Boucher and a small group of students are the driving force behind this policy. They hope to improve the quality of life on campus. The policy was proposed once before by Boucher but was turned down. This new policy has been amended and closely follows those policies set by larger universities.
“I would hate to think our students, in their time of need, would not turn to us for emergency and medical help,” Boucher said.
The policy is meant to help improve the quality of life on campus and be a safety net in a student’s time of need. It provides amnesty from university policy to students living on campus. However, it cannot provide amnesty from state law. The policy does not endorse the consumption of alcohol on campus, but rather shows that the University can aid students in the event of an alcohol or drug-related emergency.