Judicial cases involving Ohio University students are down, but administrators disagree on why.
The number of cases brought before judiciaries has declined about 27 percent since the 2006-07 school year. Judiciaries saw 1,780 cases during the 2009-10 school year, down from 2,446 in 2006-07.
“There was an initiative in 2005-2006 — the university sought to address issues related to alcohol.” said Christopher Harris, director of University Judiciaries. “There were a myriad of factors … but they will definitely show the numbers are down.”
The numbers are most likely decreasing as a result of OU’s three-strike rule, which is a more severe punishment for students with alcohol-related violations, Harris said. The harsher sanctions are an attempt to combat the school’s party reputation.
Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi noted that the 2005-06 initiative correlates with the drop but said he doesn’t think it is quite as drastic as the numbers indicate.
“It’s hard to pinpoint (a cause for the decline),” Lombardi said, also predicting that the number of judicial cases will increase overall this year because of a rise in the number of alcohol-related violations.
OU annually conducts a survey that gauges students’ usage of alcohol and other drugs. Statistics from the survey show only 5 percent fewer students are saying they have reduced drinking.
“It hasn’t changed as much as (Judiciaries’ numbers) might indicate,” Lombardi said. “It’s hard to guess how much the behavior’s actually changed. And we’re going to be seeing a slight uptick in cases this year.”
The outcome of the cases has remained relatively consistent. About 70 percent of cases result in reprimand or probation, while 5 percent result in suspension and less than 10 cases have ended in expulsion, according to University Judiciaries. Only 20 percent of cases result in dismissed charges, and 5 percent of cases from the past five years are still open.
Harris said he does not think enforcement has decreased.
“I don’t think, from my experience — though my experience is limited — that (resident assistants) are not enforcing (the) policy,” Harris said. “I don’t get that sense at all.”
Resident assistants have been encouraged not to think of writing students up as a death sentence for the student’s education.
“They’re not deciding to suspend the student — the student made that decision. The judicial officer made that decision. They’re just documenting what they see,” he said.
Despite the conflicting stories the numbers tell, Lombardi said he is still glad for any downward trend.
“Any change that means less risky behavior is a good thing,” Lombardi said.
Jesse Neader, president of Student Senate, said he isn’t convinced the numbers mean anything at all.
“There’s no correlation between the numbers going down and students drinking less in my opinion,” Neader said.
Instead, Neader said he thinks students are only getting smarter about their habits.
“From my day-to-day life, I haven’t seen students drinking less, but enforcement over the past few years has been amped up … Students are more cognizant of where they drink and how they do it,” Neader said. “In the past few years, we’ve seen more parties getting busted … people are getting the sense that the cops aren’t playing.”
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