Freshmen chose to live in Vincent House for the substance-free atmosphere.

Residents violate substance-free dorm contract

By: Giselle Chang

Posted: 5/1/08

According to several past and current residents of substance-free university housing, the contract that distinguishes the dorm from any other is broken multiple times each year.

Students who intend to live in substance-free housing are required to sign an agreement that they will not bring the effects of alcohol or drugs back to their dorm.

But many current residents claim that AMR I's Vincent House is anything but substance-free.

Shelly Fickau, Director of Residential Life, claimed that students are drawn to the dorm's "close community and respect for health."

Many students, however, say they chose substance-free housing because their parents made them.

"My parents clicked the box and told me I was doing substance-free housing. I would not have made this decision … no, no, no," said one resident, who chose to remain anonymous.

This student admitted that he frequently keeps alcohol in his refrigerator, and that he is aware of at least seven floormates who also use illegal substances.

Eight students directly reported breaking the contract.

Another student said that respect for his family's religious beliefs was the only reason he signed up for substance-free housing in the first place.

"My parents made me check that box. We [residents] are not concerned about breaking our agreement to be substance-free. When I did acid and shrooms, it was on this floor," he said.

A third student simply laughed when he was asked whether or not the dorm was really substance-free.

"Hmmm ... LSD, alcohol, Ritalin ... And that's all I've done on this floor. I've done it in my room while my roommate was sleeping. Hell, even like a couple of hours ago, when he was playing his games on the computer," he said.

He added that though he frequently uses drugs on the floor, he was unsure whether or not his floormates cared that he was breaking the rules.

"They probably have [noticed]. Most of the time, I'm too gone to really care if they notice," he said.

Another popular reason to sign up for substance-free housing is the allure of a quieter, more peaceful environment, according to several current residents.

"I signed up for it because I figured the people here wouldn't party as much, so it would be quieter," resident Connie Tan said.

Pennson Wang, also a resident, echoed this sentiment.

"I signed up for substance-free because I wasn't planning on using drugs or alcohol," she said.

"I wanted to live in an environment where the people have the same type of attitude. There's also the image, and this is a generalization, that people who drink are more rowdy and party-going."

Wang said he had not noticed substance use on the floor, but that finding out that residents use substances is surprising and upsetting

"It bothers me, I don't support it. If you're going to be substance-free, it's a signal that you won't do drugs or use alcohol. It's uncomfortable for me in general," he said.

However, although some residents are upset that people are using substances on the floor, no one has filed a complaint.

Fickau said that there has yet to be a situation reported regarding substance abuse.

As Fickau cannot chaperone these students to make sure that they stick to the contract, the Residential Advisor (RA) is expected to make sure that residents are not using illegal substances. However, this is not always the case.

"No one has ever gotten in trouble for any substance abuse," one student said. "but we've guessed that the RA has speculations."

The current RA of substance-free housing refused to be interviewed for this article.

According to Yufeng Guo, the RA usually is not in the dorm when residents are obviously using drugs. If the RA were there, however, many residents still believe that no one would expose their floor-mates' activities.

"People have noticed, just no one has said anything about it," he said.

Junior Keri Calkins lived in substance-free housing when she was a freshman. She said that drugs and alcohol were prevalent then, too, and like this year, the RA did not take disciplinary action.

"I don't ever really remember our RA mentioning that we lived in substance-free housing or discussing any rules or regulations regarding living in a substance-free dorm. When students used alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, it seemed like our RA was never around to enforce the policies," Calkins said.

She added that she mainly signed up for substance-free housing because she thought it would decrease the likelihood that she would end up with an "out-of-control" roommate, and because she is allergic to cigarette smoke.

Fuad Muakkassa, one of Calkins' former floor-mates, said that he believed most people in his class signed up for substance-free housing for the right reasons, but that those reasons may have diminished as the year went on.

"People change as they go through their freshman year, and those who may have opted for substance-free may begin to use substances," Muakkassa wrote in an e-mail to the News-Letter.

One student who opted to sign up for the housing plan himself said that he was surprised when he came back to his room to find two little balls of weed on a piece of tinfoil on his dresser.

"I was like, 'What? That came out of nowhere!' I didn't know what to do, so I just chucked it," he said.

The student said that he did not feel like it was necessary to contact his RA.

Looking back, Calkins said that she did not notice the difference between substance-free housing and the other dorms until she talked to other students about their freshman year experiences.

"At the time [that I lived there], it seemed like there was really no difference between the substance-free and non-substance-free dorms with regard to students' usage or the RA's enforcement of policies," she said.

"But when I talked to other students about their housing experiences, our dorm tended to have less substance usage and be calmer on the weekends," she said.

Residential Life has already decided that they will offer substance-free housing next year to incoming freshmen, and that these students will be housed in Vincent House once again.

According to Fickau, the contract will remain the same.

Guo said that he has not really been affected by his floor-mates' decisions to use alcohol and drugs, and that he feels there is a lower level of abuse than there is in other dorms.

"[Substance-free housing] is effective to an extent, for those who choose to follow it. There's nothing stopping anybody from doing whatever they want, we're in college," he said.