In previous years, students would receive housing probation for one year and the $100 BASICS I class, with parental notification coming only after the second alcohol violation. The change in this year’s policy is intended as a stricter deterrent to underage drinking on campus. The new policy, in many ways, is contradictory to the aims of the University by invalidating students’ newfound sense of individuality and personal responsibility.

The new policy is actually not reflected on the current Drug and Alcohol Policies page on UMass’ website. A PDF version on the site is noted as being last updated in November 2010, and lists last year’s sanctions. New students were informed of the accurate policies by way of a print version of the pamphlet being left on their desks when they moved in.

There are certainly many incoming freshmen who are quite young and immature, but one of the aims of Residence Life is to empower these students to make the transition into responsible adulthood. One of the most important ways students make this transition is by living on their own, away from their parents. By threatening to call mom and dad at the first sign of trouble, the University is preventing students from feeling that sense of individuality, because the thought of punishment at home will always be hanging over their heads.

The policy is patronizing because it is, after all, the same policy as found in primary and secondary school. When a child misbehaves at school, he or she is sent to the principal, who calls home and informs the parents of the situation. The running joke is that Whitmore, as the home of the University administration, is like the “principal’s office” here on campus. Now, Whitmore seems to be taking that joke to heart – perhaps next, students will be setting up parent-teacher conferences at the Dean’s office.

The argument, of course, is that parental notification is a practical deterrent to underage drinking. While the policy may be disagreeable on a philosophical level, it is logical to think the new policy will prevent at least some students from drinking underage (or, at least, make them more careful of being caught).

As a Resident Assistant in a freshmen dorm, I would certainly stand to gain from fewer drunken 18-year-olds carousing in the hallways, and would therefore be a beneficiary of this new policy. Nevertheless, I oppose the policy change because of that sense of invalidation it gives students who are trying to truly be adults for the first time. How, as an RA, can I empower my residents to grow when the power their parents hold over them is still being held firmly in place by the University?

Then there is the simple matter that not all parents extend the same amount of discipline. There are students who are written up for alcohol two, three, or four times and don’t bat an eye when their parents are told. These parents may not care that their students are drinking, or may not care what their students are up to at all. In this case, parental notification is a lost cause as a deterrent to begin with.

On the other hand, there are far stricter parents out there who may end up punishing their students far beyond what the University expects. Imagine a parent cutting off a student’s tuition because of an alcohol violation. It may sound extreme, but the possibility exists. A student could potentially appeal the University to not call home if this were the case, but that creates a whole separate issue relating to treating students differently for the same policy violation. Parents, especially those who are footing their student’s bill, do deserve to be kept in the loop to some extent. They have a point of contact with the University, but it is through the Office of Parents Services, not Residence Life or the Dean’s Office. The University should be encouraging students to maturely inform their parents of their mistakes on their own, instead of going over the student’s head. This empowers the student to be responsible, as well as keep their independence.

When I worked as a counselor this summer at the New Students Orientation program, we were explicitly forbidden to refer to the students as boys and girls. It was ‘men,’ ‘women’ or ‘students.’ The idea was that this simple rhetorical change reinforced the idea amongst the incoming freshmen that they would be held to a higher standard here at UMass – the standard that, yes, they are adults now and should be treated as such. Now that these freshmen are at the University, this new alcohol policy distorts that message. Those who are truly adults don’t have to deal with their parents being called whenever they make a slight mistake; neither should a student at UMass Amherst.

The new policy entered the school quietly, but it will loudly impact the lives of students- in the form of ringing phones in the kitchens of students’ homes across Massachusetts and the US.

Billy Rainsford can be reached at [email protected]