Saint Louis University: Liquor Law Violations

Katie Perez was celebrating her first Halloween in college when her friends received a noise complaint. That knock on the door proved to be much more than just a noise complaint though, when the Resident Advisor found alcohol in the dorm room full of underage students. From there, Perez became another number in the Saint Louis University Annual Crime and Fire Safety Report - Disciplinary Actions for Liquor Law Violations.

“I do kind of regret it.” Perez, now a junior at SLU, was just a freshman when the incident took place. “I had to go through the Billiken ACT Workshop, which honestly felt like a chore more than anything. It really just feels like bad luck to get caught, since so many people do it.”

In accordance with the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, Saint Louis University releases an Annual Fire and Security Report to the public. In this report, they detail crime statistics and security policies for the previous year. On a much more frequent basis, SLU also publishes the Daily Crime Log with more detailed criminal incidents, which is updated every two days.

In the report, the highest number of incidents by far is that of disciplinary actions for liquor law violations. A liquor law violation is both underage consumption as well as underage possession of an alcoholic substance, according to Mike Parkinson, the Emergency Preparedness Coordinator within the Department of Public Security at Saint Louis University. According to the report, in 2018, the number of incidents was 290, which rose to 355 in 2019, then went back down to 258 for 2020.

One aspect of the numbers that Parkinson emphasized was the uniqueness of Missouri Law, on which he said “Missouri statute says your stomach is a vessel that holds liquor. If you come back from a bar or off campus drinking and we think you’ve been drinking, we can still charge you. If you’re found guilty or not guilty you are still counted in the numbers.” Although this can make SLU’s numbers look a little different from other universities, one thing is clear: many students get caught violating liquor laws each year.

The first line of defense against these students are the Resident Advisors, who are other students living in residence halls as leaders to keep residents safe and supervised.

Lauren Morby, who has been a resident advisor at Saint Louis University for two years, said “If a RA finds you in the possession of alcohol they will ask you to dump it out. Then they take pictures of everyone’s IDs and of the alcohol and write an incident report. They do not involve upper RHA people or DPS unless people are not cooperating or become aggressive.”

At that point, these students begin the process of “corrective counseling”, as Morby called it. Saint Louis University has a number of correctional programs for students to take part in, which focus on “doing everything possible internally, to keep things in an educational process versus a criminal process” stated Parkinson.

After students attend a hearing with a professional Resident Life staff to determine their charge, students are fined $50 - $100 and attend the Billiken ACT Workshop. This workshop consistent of an online program and an in-person program, which educates students on alcohol safety as well as overall sexual assault safety and community guidelines. SLU also offers weekly AA meetings on campus, as well as requiring each student to complete Alcohol Edu, an online educational/preventative program about underage and excessive alcohol usage.

The influence of these programs, however well the intent, is debatable. Parkinson is hoping to change that, saying “We really are trying to partner with Housing and Residence Life to create co-programming to help keep the numbers down.

Looking back, Perez said “We didn’t learn much because it was the same information we learned in those modules we had to complete. Honestly I think it’s just part of college culture because it’s never going to stop happening and the information is redundant. It’s all things we know and have heard but most people choose to drink - it’s not like it’s forced.”