University of Delaware, Newark police gear up for St. Patrick's Day, spring break
With St. Patrick's Day and the University of Delaware's spring break just around the corner, Newark police and campus officials are focused on limiting underage consumption and binge drinking.
At a campus notorious for its disruptive house parties and where more than one student's death has been linked to alcohol consumption, the stakes are incredibly high, they said.
“This is what keeps me up at night," UD's Dean of Students José-Luis Riera said. "A student can make a decision any night of the week that is life-altering, if not fatal."
“What we’re trying to do is influence culture.”
Newark police Lt. Andrew Rubin said his department focuses on enforcement but also teams up with UD to talk to students about the consequences of drinking too much.
“We have to work together," he said. "We do increase the number of officers (on duty) in anticipation of St. Patrick's Day. In general, in the springtime, we see an uptick in daytime parties."
The Irish holiday falls on March 17, a Saturday this year, while UD's spring break runs from March 24 to April 1.
Riera said the university takes an educational approach to drinking versus a punitive one. Students that break UD's drug or alcohol policies are required to take a seminar called BASICS, which helps them make changes to their drinking habits.
Students can also take the class voluntarily, and many of UD's fraternities and sororities participate.
UD also has a Campus Coalition for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Prevention, which launched in 2014 and is tasked with encouraging responsible drinking among students of legal age and minimizing the risks for those under 21.
Though the university decided against moving its spring break to coincide with St. Patrick's Day in an attempt to reduce the number of out-of-state students that come to Newark to party, a committee did recommend coming up with safer, nonalcoholic alternatives.
This year, there will be a 10-day celebration called "Blue Hens Go Green for St. Patrick's Day," which culminates with Shamrockfest, a day full of events like free fitness classes, meals, trivia, yard games and more.
“If they are absolutely determined to go drink, at least they have some food in their stomach," Riera said.
Riera thinks UD has made progress when it comes to addressing high-risk drinking. He said referrals are on the decline, and that students who take BASICS report binge drinking less within about six months of taking the class.
But Riera was also hesitant to boast about downward trends and said all it would take is one big event, with multiple students drinking, to skew the numbers again.
"It takes years to change a climate," he said.
Off campus, university officials and sanctions have less weight.
A member of the Newark police force for more than 20 years now, Rubin is well-acquainted with Newark's college party scene.
Last year on St. Patrick's Day, Newark police made 13 arrests: four for underage drinking; four for open container violations; two for disorderly conduct; and one each for criminal impersonation (providing a false identity), loitering and resisting arrest, he said.
That's far less than in 2016, when police made 58 criminal arrests, including 16 charges of underage alcohol possession or consumption, and broke up 16 parties.
Spring break is usually a little quieter, Rubin said, because many students travel.
Even so, he's seen some pretty crazy stuff. People make questionable decisions when they're drunk, he said, and do things they definitely wouldn't do when they're sober.
He remembers one incident where someone rearranged traffic cones surrounding a construction zone and ended up redirecting traffic. Often, college students will walk home while impaired, he said, which can make them more susceptible to a pedestrian accident or becoming a victim of an assault or robbery.
In 2014, a couple celebrating St. Patrick's Day were caught on video having sex behind the trash bins in the Galleria Building parking lot on Newark's Main Street.
During St. Patrick's Day weekend in 2016, a Massachusetts college student died after falling off the roof of an unofficial fraternity house at 153 W. Main St. It is unclear why Willem Golden, a student at upstate New York's Skidmore College, was on the roof of the home, but alcohol is believed to have played a role. Authorities said a light rain had also dampened the roof of the house.
Neighbors said there was a party going on at the house with young people clad in green drinking outside.
Universities have spent millions of dollars trying to educate students on the perils of excessive alcohol consumption, along with sanctioning and banning fraternities notorious for "Animal House" antics. But when parties are pushed off campus, enforcement gaps become more pronounced.
There are also questions over liability in such cases, as a recently decided lawsuit illustrates.
Superior Court Judge Ferris Wharton ruled last week that the University of Delaware is not liable for the death of a drunken student who attended an off-campus party and was later hit by a truck and killed.
In his 39-page order, he wrote that 19-year-old Ethan P. Connolly's own conduct led to his death. His blood-alcohol content was found to be up to three times the legal limit for determining intoxication, court documents showed. He and another student did not cross the road at a marked sidewalk.
Serious consequences
About 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes, each year, according to the National Institute on Alchohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
According to a2016 report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, almost 40.8 percent of college students ages 18 to 22 drank alcohol in the past month, and almost 32.4 percent of them engaged in binge drinking during that same timeframe. The binge drinking rate is down from 45 percent in 2005, but still high enough to prompt concerns about overconsumption.
Binge drinking is a pattern of drinking that brings blood alcohol concentration levels to 0.08. This typically occurs after four drinks for women and five drinks for men — in about two hours.
Drinking large quantities of alcohol can overwhelm the body’s ability to break down and clear alcohol from the bloodstream. This leads to rapid increases in blood alcohol content and significantly impairs brain function. Continuing to drink despite clear signs of significant impairments can result in a potentially deadly type of overdose called alcohol poisoning.
It's hard to quantify just how big a problem binge drinking is at UD, though an annual report on campus crime and security does provide some context. The report captures what happens on campus only, not off campus where a good chunk of students live and attend parties.
Students were arrested for liquor law violations 53 times in the 2016-17 school year, according to the report, down from 113 in 2014.
However, 755 cases were referred to the university's Office of Student Conduct.
University of Delaware police said the department has seen a 44 percent reduction in alcohol violations, going from 511 in 2010 to 285 last year. There's been a 24 percent reduction in DUIs. There were 62 in 2010 and 47 last year, though it should be noted UD police patrol only streets directly adjoining campus.
A joint effort
The two police departments have found ways to work together, UD police Chief Patrick Ogden said.
When Newark police break up a party, they frequently call in officers from campus so that students can be immediately referred to the Office of Student Conduct and the BASICS class. In the past, students were referred back to the university only after they appeared in Alderman's Court.
"The only issue with that is it could take three to four months," Riera said.
Ogden stresses that Delaware has a medical amnesty policy, that protects underage students from being arrested if they or a friend call 911 to report an overdose or alcohol poisoning. UD also has an amnesty protocol, which excuses students from conduct charges.
In both cases, amnesty is extended only if the student takes the first step. If they're caught or arrested, it does not apply.
Ogden said the University Police Department has 50 officers, all of whom will be on duty at one time or another during St. Patrick's Day weekend.
He said the main priority for the force will be keeping students safe.
“We’ve had students that have been hit by cars. We’ve had students that have been hit by trains. We’ve had students that have been victims of robbery," he said. "We want students to get wherever they're going, from point A to point B, safely. It’s not necessarily about making additional arrests.”
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Contact Jessica Bies at (302) 324-2881 or jbies@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @jessicajbies.
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