This summer marked the first time that several programs during freshmen orientation at UT were not mandatory for students. One program in particular, “Life as we know it: Longhorn Edition,” taught freshmen about campus safety, sexual assault and alcohol safety.
When new student Cori Baker attended freshmen orientation, her and her friends were picked up by fraternity members in cars and driven to a party in West Campus instead of attending the nightly programs that focused on safety.
Baker said that she felt safe going to the party because she was with a large group of her friends. “You cannot go to a party and expect strangers to take care of you,” Baker said. She also noted that many other students at the parties were inexperienced with alcohol. “They had surpassed their limit. They were stumbling and sloppy and just all over the place.”
According to UTPD’s Campus Watch reports, there were six reported alcohol related incidents directly connected to students at freshman orientation in 2011, as opposed to only two in 2010. Of these six incidents, four of them occurred on the same night as, “Life as we know it: Longhorn Edition.”
Cristi Biggs, Assistant Dean of Students who has been with the program for 15 years, said the decision for the programs to no longer be mandatory was made because of parental complaints about the programs being too late at night.
Biggs believes that the biggest obstacle they faced this summer was the attendance at the programs. According to Biggs, the best attendance for 2011 was around 500 students, while it was around 900 students in 2010. One measure to increase attendance was an Ipad raffle for students who attended all programs that orientation offered.
“We didn’t know what to expect because we had never been faced with this challenge. This may actually be a good thing because students have to take more responsibility for themselves now that they are not forced to attend the programs,” Biggs said.
Officer Darrell Halstead of UTPD believes that the biggest challenge facing this freshmen class is that they do not know what to expect when transitioning to college.
“You come in with expectations of college. Those expectations are based upon what, ‘Animal House’ and other types of movies that are directed to the college lifestyle? You are coming in with a false impression,” Halstead said. “When my son gets ready to go to college, life is totally different than what I was living in the dorms.”
Halstead believe that the university is doing a better job at helping students transition to college by inviting students to visit campus from high school. “What I would like to see is the police department more exposed to these students that are coming to visit so their parents have an opportunity to ask questions,” Halstead said.
UTPD Officer Layne Smith says that new students may be “too trusting” and “a little naïve.” “They have never experienced being away from home and they get caught up in the alcohol scene. If a friend gets too drunk or very intoxicated they don’t know what to do in that aspect,” said Smith. “It is a huge learning curve for them when they come in.”
This learning curve may be even more extreme now that programs during orientation covering alcohol safety are not mandatory for first year students. According to the 2010 and 2011 UTPD Clery Reports for June through September there were significantly more Public Intoxication charges in 2011. For September 2011 the number is more than double September 2010.
Kian Gass, 18, a freshman RTF major, attended one of the last orientation sessions and “Life as we know it: Longhorn Edition.” Gass was present in the lobby of Jester East dormitory when he experienced first-hand the effects of underage drinking. “The ambulance had to come because some girl was passed out right outside Jester and was wasted and all that,” Gass said.
Several UTPD Campus Watch reports speak of freshmen during orientation being charged with Consumption of Alcohol by a Minor and Public Intoxication.
Although the change from mandatory programming to optional programming was accredited to how late the programs were at night, students still seem to be staying up to consume alcohol instead of attending programs that teach about the dangers of that very same practice.
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