The total number of student disciplinary cases decreased during the 2007-2008 academic year by more than 100 cases, from 475 to 358, according to the Undergraduate Judicial Affairs' annual report, officially released today. The report also showed that minor alcohol and drug policy violations decreased significantly last year, mirroring the trends found in the 2008 Annual Security Report, which noted a sharp drop in liquor-law arrests and violations. The security report, which documents crimes on and around the Dartmouth campus, was released by Safety and Security last week.
April Thompson, director of Undergraduate Judicial Affairs, said the decrease in overall disciplinary cases and the drop in alcohol-related incidences may be correlated.
"Serious conduct cases, such as sexual assault and theft, are often related to intoxication," Thompson said. "When people are calling in Good [Samaritans] to help their friends, they don't have a chance to get in trouble for fighting, damaging property or a number of other things."
Safety and Security's annual report did find an increase in forcible sexual assault crimes, from 13 in 2006 to 19 last year. Kinne said he believes that sexual assault is generally one of the most underreported crimes and said the increase in cases could be due to women feeling more comfortable reporting assault.
Hanover Police Chief Nicholas Giaccone said he found it ironic that while alcohol-related arrests were decreasing last year, all 11 cases of sexual assault reported to Hanover Police involved intoxication. He said he could only speculate as to the correlation between these two statistics.
"Perhaps students are taking better care of not coming in contact with the police, but that is pure conjecture," he said.
According to the UJA's report, cases of alleged sexual abuse remained constant, with one case resulting in a hearing in both the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years.
The UJA report lists 130 instances of students sanctioned for minor alcohol and drug violations, as opposed to 187 sanctions during the 2006-2007 academic year. Good Samaritan calls -- for which the College does not take disciplinary action -- rose from 100 to 109. Thompson said she believes the changes in these two statistics are negatively related.
"When no one calls a Good Sam and they get found by Safety and Security, the student is subject to disciplinary action," she said. "Over time, students have begun to trust the Good Samaritan policy more and more. I hope the Good Sam number will continue to rise because from a College and health and safety perspective, there are not a whole lot of negatives for calling."
The largest drop in alcohol- and drug-related violations in recent years was in 2005, when the Good Samaritan policy was amended to allow for unlimited Good Sam calls, Thompson said. The number of Good Sams has increased each year since the change, while disciplinary action related to student intoxication has decreased.
The 2008 Annual Security Report, which summarizes crimes committed during the 2007 calendar year, showed only 122 cases of College-handled liquor-law violations, a sharp decrease from the 226 cases reported in 2005 and the 153 reported in 2006. Liquor-law arrests also dropped significantly, from 105 in 2006 to 68 in 2007.
College proctor and director of Safety and Security Harry Kinne said the decreases may be due to increasingly widespread knowledge of New Hampshire's possession-by-consumption law. The law allows for the arrest of anyone under the age of 21 found with a blood alcohol content of 0.02 or above.
"When the law came into play about four years ago, one of our goals was to educate people of that law," Kinne said. "Now that we have had a full cycle, everyone ahead of the class four years ago is knowledgeable of the law."
The report also illustrates a large decrease in organizational incidents. Fewer organizations faced social probation or were involved in hearings with the College.
"I think that the work the [Social Event Management Procedures] committee did last year brought awareness to the student organizations," Thompson said. "They asked organizations about how parties should be run and made them think about their own party management."
A new alcohol policy will replace the current SEMP policy in Winter 2009. The new policy will likely follow the Alcohol Management Policy, a set of guidelines created by a committee of students and administrators that was finalized in spring 2008. AMP will allow all organizations to develop their own alcohol policies and management procedures within an overarching set of rules established by the College, The Dartmouth reported this summer.
The Undergraduate Judicial Affairs office releases a report to the Dartmouth community each year detailing undergraduate disciplinary cases. The 2008 Annual Security Report is released by Safety and Security in compliance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, which require colleges and universities to release a detailed report outlining their drug and alcohol policies, updated crime statistics and resources and information for the community.
