WATERVILLE — Officials at Colby and Thomas colleges say their own alcohol policies have helped reduce underage drinking and overconsumption, following news this week that Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., banned certain kinds of hard alcohol from campus as a way to combat sexual assault and other issues.

Local officials said police and colleges work together to try to reduce underage drinking through education and enforcement, but there is no way to prevent it entirely.

Colby has a partial ban on hard liquor, allowing consumption by students at the on-campus Blue Light Pub if they are 21 or older, and prohibiting possession of it elsewhere on campus, including in dormitory rooms.

Since the partial ban was enacted about five years ago, the college has seen a 20 percent reduction in the most serious incidents of overconsumption — those involving students becoming sick — according to Colby spokeswoman Ruth Jackson. The ban was adopted as part of a review by students and faculty and staff members of social policies and non-academic behavior on campus, as well as what other colleges had for policies. Bates College in Lewiston and Bowdoin College in Brunswick also have hard-liquor bans.

“Beyond the numbers, one tangible difference has been the elimination of punch bowls — which can often make it difficult for students to know how much alcohol they’re consuming — from campus parties,” Jackson said. “The college continues to look at other ways to ensure the safety of our students, but the shift five years ago has no doubt made a difference at Colby.”

Thomas College allows beer and wine to be served at the campus retail snack shop, Dog Pound, but no hard liquor is allowed. The same goes with catered events, but students who are 21 may have hard liquor in their dormitory rooms.

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Lisa Desautels-Poliquin, vice president of student affairs at Thomas, said the college tries to educate students and be proactive, and the alcohol policy has been tweaked and revised over the years to meet student needs.

“It seems to work well, and I think partly because we’re a small campus,” she said.

But she acknowledged that there are times when alcohol incidents occur more and times when they ease off.

“Our students are college students, so I’d never say they don’t drink or what have you,” she said. “The majority of students on most campuses are doing the right thing and using alcohol appropriately. We’re not immune from society.”

STUDENT SKEPTICISM

A female Colby student, who asked not to be identified, said Friday that she doesn’t think the college’s alcohol policy works.

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Underage drinking parties are held on campus every weekend, she said, and she knows of students who were taken to the hospital for treatment of alcohol poisoning last year.

“Colby is a pretty big party school,” she said.

She said she knows of at least three students accused of sexual assault who left the college and did not return last year.

“I think we have a very big issue with sexual assault here,” the student said.

Jackson said Friday she couldn’t verify the student’s claims.

Studies show that college alcohol abuse and sexual assault are related. According to the American Assocation of University Women, 89 percent of campus assaults occur when the victim is incapacitated by alcohol. The group’s website calls alcohol “the most widely used date-rape drug.

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Dartmouth officials cited sexual assaults — the college is one of several in New England under scrutiny for Title IX violations because of their sexual assault records — as one of the reasons for the hard liquor ban.

Waterville Police Chief Joseph Massey said “two or three” cases of sexual assault at Colby were reported to police last year, but those cases did not go to court.

“None of the victims was willing to testify against their attackers,” he said. “If you charge someone with sexual assault and they end up in court, you have to have the victim there.”

Massey said police work closely with the college to encourage sexual assault victims to report the assaults, but many victims are embarrassed and don’t want to identify their attacker or testify.

“The fact of the matter is, if a victim is not willing to testify, then there’s really not much we can do,” he said.

Massey also said that there’s no question parties are held on campus at which underage students drink, but police can’t just go in and search dormitories, because students have a right to privacy.

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“It’s a home away from home,” Massey said. “We can’t just go barge in their room. Buildings are secured. We don’t have access to them. We need (campus) security and a reason to go in there. There’s no question that there are probably parties at both colleges, but a lot of the time we don’t get the necessary information to go into those parties.”

If police get a call about a loud party and officers can see people who are underage and drinking, they can ask those students for identification; and if they refuse to show it, they can be summoned to court, he said. But police must be careful about engaging in unreasonable searches and seizures, according to Massey.

EDUCATING STUDENTS

Massey said he has been pleased with Colby and Thomas’ efforts to continue evolving their alcohol policies and educating students.

“We have a great relationship with both,” he said. “The bottom line is, they are colleges and there are young adults, 18, 19, 20 years old, and they cannot legally consume alcohol. I think the key is that cooperation between college officials, their security and police and making sure we work closely together.”

Massey said that every year, challenges with alcohol and underage drinking on campuses arise.

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“This year, I think there have been relatively fewer issues than we’ve had in past years for both colleges, and I attribute that to both colleges working hard on their alcohol policies and working with us. We’ve got to continue to do that.”

Jackson, the Colby spokeswoman, pointed to student-generated programs as positive and promising initiatives at the college.

A student who graduated last year started Mules Against Violence, a peer-to-peer mentor program about issues involving sexual violence and prevention, awareness and codes of conduct, she said.

Jackson also said students last year developed an affirmation focusing on what they want Colby to be as a community and what they want the standards to be for how they treat themselves and each other. At the beginning of this academic year, all students signed it, she said.

“It’s not specifically about drinking. It’s not specifically about any one thing,” Jackson said. “It’s about who we are as a community, what are our values, and affirming that yes, we are going to hold ourselves to these high standards of conduct.”

Amy Calder — 861-9247

acalder@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @AmyCalder17


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