After visiting a local bar, a student is found slumped on a staircase, extremely drunk.
In a more bizarre situation, one student drinks alcohol at a birthday party and is seen later that evening on the ground near a campus parking lot crying and screaming “I don’t want to live, my friends hate me!”
Another student vomits blood in her dormitory after consuming too much alcohol.
All three of these scenarios happened in November. They are only a few of the 17 incidents reported by Campus Safety this semester where individuals suspected of consuming alcohol were rushed to the emergency room.
Many students involved were under the legal drinking age of 21 and most of these incidents occurred at the Lake Shore campus.
Dean of Students Jane Neufeld said students who drink themselves to the E.R. trouble her.
“It worries me that students are putting themselves in harm’s way like that,” she said.
Ahmed Raziuddin, M.D., is an emergency room doctor at nearby Weiss Memorial Hospital, where he’s worked for 25 years.
He said he’s noticed an increase in intoxicated Loyola students sent to Weiss’s E.R. this fall semester.
It’s common for an average of two students a week to visit Weiss because of alcohol consumption he said. These students are often found vomiting, incoherent or unresponsive, among other complications.
“It’s just sad that their parents are in different states and different areas and they think that they send their students here for education,” Raziuddin said. “Then they get a call from the emergency department about their child who is intoxicated and sick. That’s a terrible feeling for parents.”
The doctor advised that Loyola officials compile statistical proof of the effects alcohol has on the university. He said these statistics could be given to local politicans who in turn could discourage businesses close to campus from selling alcohol.
“Legally what they can do is get these stores out of the way and then monitor them much more closely.” said Raziuddin. “They should pull out these stats and say, ‘Hey, we want to make our school a better school — not a party school.’”
Neufeld said that there aren’t that many stores selling alcohol around the school; however, she believes problems could arise if the CVS store located at 6510 N. Sheridan Rd. is successful in its attempt to obtain a liquor license. She said that could make alcohol more accessible and wouldn’t be good for students — or Loyola’s relationship with the community.
“It won’t help with the neighbors. It has the possibility of creating unwanted tension,” Neufeld said.
Loyola President, the Rev. Michael J. Garanzini, S.J., wrote in an e-mail to the Phoenix that he doesn’t think “administrators, faculty and students alike,” have adequately addressed the school’s alcohol issues.
“In all honesty, I don’t think we have had an institution-wide discussion of the problem, assuming we have a problem,” he wrote.
Garanzini stressed that it’s the students’ responsibility to make mature decisions.
“I do not begrudge someone’s need to learn his or her limits or master self control,” Garanzini wrote. “But, if a student cannot seem to find those limits or gain self-control, this might not be the right place for him or her at this time at least.”
Many reported alcohol-related incidents occur in student dorms.
Katie Rutkowski, Apartment Areas assistant director, briefed the Phoenix on how Residence Life responds.
Once Residence Life staff becomes aware of a heavily intoxicated student, they contact Loyola Emergency Medical Services and Campus Safety. Staff members from these departments decide if emergency care is needed. For incidents on the Lake Shore campus, an ambulance is called and the student is taken to one of two nearby hospitals, St. Francis Hospital or Weiss Memorial Hospital. Northwestern Memorial Hospital is usually used for Water Tower campus incidents.
Both Campus Safety and Residence Life file reports on incidents that are available to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (OSCCR).
Once a report is filed, either an OSCCR official or the dean of students processes it and contacts the student about the situation.
Following up with students hospitalized because of alcohol use is about more than just discipline, Neufeld said.
“We know that students will drink. We want to make sure that they are drinking responsibly,” Neufeld said. “Sanctions aren’t as important as helping someone make healthy choices.”
Neufeld mentioned that increased attention on alcohol related E.R. transports could be a result of the university identifying more situations than in the past.
She also noted that Loyola tries to educate students on responsible drinking and provide weekend event programming with alternatives to parties where alcohol is consumed.
“I’m not so sure what else the university can do when things like fake IDs are so available and so well done,” Neufeld said.
Additional reporting by LeeAnn Maton.
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