In the most recently available campus crime statistics, the University of Wisconsin had the largest number of liquor violation arrests in 2002.
The statistics are made available through the Jeanne Clery Act, founded in memory of a 19-year-old Lehigh University freshman who was raped and murdered while asleep in her residence hall room in 1986. The Clery Act is a law that requires colleges and universities across the United States to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses and is enforced by the U.S. Department of Education.
The Big Ten campus crime statistics show that in 2002, UW had 842 liquor violation arrests out of its population of 41,588 students. This number dwarfs statistics from the two schools at the bottom of the list, with 193 arrests at the University of Iowa and 166 at Northwestern University.
While Northwestern has only 13,614 students, the University of Iowa has more than 28,000 students and is in many ways comparable to UW.
Some students wonder if UW has a serious drinking problem compared to other Big Ten universities or if there is a difference in the reporting of campus crime.
“We have a really big school, but I think kids at Iowa drink just as much as we do,” UW junior Sarah Hjersjo said. “I don’t see why there would be such a big difference.”
UW sophomore Ali Niggeman noted the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana allows students to go to bars at 19.
“The police there rely more on the bouncers,” she said.
The U of I, with a student population of 38,291, had 390 liquor arrests in 2002 and was ranked last out of the Big Ten for liquor-related judicial referrals.
According to Lieutenant Jerry L. Minger, Indiana University Security Officer, the difference between an arrest and a referral lies in whether the Dean of the University or the campus police punishes the student.
“The numbers of arrests and referrals are separate,” he said.
There were notable differences among the Big Ten schools in the area of drug arrests. Indiana University-Bloomington had the largest number of drug law violations in 2002, reporting 338 arrests compared to only 44 at UW. However, UW had the largest number of drug law violation referrals.
Minger commented on the differences in numbers between UW and IU.
“The reporting guidelines are the same for all universities,” he said, citing the Clery Act.
“At IU, [unlike at UW] there is no alcohol allowed on campus. There are some graduate dorms where alcohol is allowed, but the majority of our students is undergraduate and not allowed to drink,” Minger said.
Minger said at IU more than 90 percent of drug arrests come from misdemeanor use of marijuana reported through residence-hall staff and residents.
“We have wonderful relations with the staff in the residence halls,” Minger said, adding every year the police department offers classes to the IU residence hall staff so they are prepared to deal with marijuana use.
Minger also noted IU and Purdue have the fifth-largest populations in the United States, so their numbers need to be put into perspective.
Noting IU has recently become a non-smoking campus, Minger said. “People are more health conscious in general. As it happens, most violations involve marijuana.”
Minger was unsure if students at IU had lost scholarships because of drug arrest.
“I don’t know, but it’s very possible. The academic and police records don’t mix, so we don’t have access to that information,” he said.
