Amnesty policy gives students second chance

The College passed an amendment to the current alcohol policy on Sept. 28 to encourage students to seek help during alcohol-related medical emergencies. The policy states that any student in need of medical care during an alcohol-related emergency may seek care without fear of being subjected to student disciplinary action.
“The purpose of the medical amnesty policy is so students are not afraid to seek the medical attention they need or their friends might need,” said Jeri Cabot, Dean of Students. “We never want a student to be afraid to seek medical assistance.”
The College’s student affairs office felt it needed to amend the previous policy because it did not include a clause that specifically regarded medical related alcohol infractions. 
“If you needed to be transported [to the hospital] and it was medically related, you had a charge to deal with,” Cabot said.
However, the policy is intended to be a one-time use only.  Students who are transported to the hospital can receive conditional amnesty and college officials will enact appropriate measures, such as educational or therapeutic counseling as alternatives to judicial sanctioning.
“The counseling will go through the College’s Office of Counseling and Substance Abuse Services (CASAS),” said Cabot. “Our therapists will determine how many sessions they feel a student needs.”
If a student were ticketed under the un-amended policy, he or she would have had to pay fines to the state and College to attend alcohol awareness classes.  While the new policy does not negate local and state ticketing laws, it does waive the counseling fee.
“The Charleston police department can still choose to ticket any student who they feel has broken laws,” Cabot said.  “But all service fees for assigned abuse counseling will be waived if the student qualifies for conditional amnesty.”
The policy, which aims to assist students in alcohol-related medical emergencies, did not change the alcohol policy the College had in place for students under the age of 21 or living in the dorms.
“This [policy] does not cover open container citations or the transporting of alcohol into the dorms nor does it stop the school from calling the students’ parents if they are under 21 and must be transported,” said Cabot.
Other schools in the region with this type of medical amnesty policy include Furman University, Clemson University and Coastal Carolina University.
“We are in the middle of the pack when it comes to enacting this policy,” Cabot said.  “Because of this, we were able to study policies other schools had in place which was helpful in deciding how we wanted our policy to read.”
Students have already voiced their feelings on the policy.
“I think it’s going to save some lives,” said sophomore Alexa Borghi. “People who would normally hesitate to go to the hospital now have the ability to make a smart decision without fear of the repercussions.”
Addison Meyer-Cuno, a sophomore transfer student, also agrees with the policy.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Meyer-Cuno. “I’m sure there are a lot of students who have found themselves or their friends in this situation and have been too scared to call for help for fear of getting in trouble.”
The student affairs office at the College is aware of the risk of dangerous alcohol use among students and wanted to enact a policy that would account for students’ safety.
“We understand some students use alcohol in risky ways,” Cabot said. “We want to make sure harm to that type of student is low.”

Any student interested in learning more this policy can contact Jeri Cabot, Dean of Students, at (843) 953-5522.