Wisconsin may be more culturally accepting of alcohol, however according to university officials leniency toward underage drinking will be taking a downturn.

Will Chapman, Assistant Director of Student Conduct, said there has been an increase in the level of enforcement with alcohol following an input of alcohol use data from an alcohol review last year, that showed students drinking habits such as the practice of pre-gaming, something University of Wisconsin hopes to lessen, especially in residence halls.

Following UW’s first home game, Dean of Students Lori Berquam sent out a letter alerting parents about the dangers students face when handling alcohol on campus.

In the letter Berquam discussed the level of underage drinking that went on over the weekend, a level that UW Police Department spokesperson Marc Lovicott said naturally rises at the start of every school year.

“UW-Madison Police Department reported that 12 students were transported to detox and 69 students were issued underage alcohol violations,” Berquam said in the email. “One incident involved an 18-year-old student who was found by police, alone and sleeping among broken beer bottles, at 8:30 a.m. His blood alcohol level was above .2.”

Chapman said the university has long recognized alcohol use as a major issue, and having the data has allowed further action to be taken. In collaboration with UWPD, enforcement is going up.

“Enforcement is up, they’re putting a greater emphasis in addressing risky behaviors, confronting students who are obviously intoxicated,” Chapman said.

He said the average BAC this past weekend was .19, more than double the legal limit, and many were underage. When enforcing underage drinking, police use behavior-based enforcement, looking for high-risk individuals based on those carrying open intoxicants or stumbling, Chapman said.

For students who face underage drinking incidents, UW will require the enrollment in either Choices about Alcohol or BASICS, two programs that are intended to provide an education about safe alcohol consumption.

“Most students don’t know that weight, biological sex, the amount of food in your stomach, the amount of water you drink that day all factor [in],” Chapman said.

Lovicott said it is nothing new for police to crackdown on underage drinking as students return to campus. He said one way UWPD hopes to ensure safety on campus is by emphasizing the Responsible Action Policy, in which students can report an intoxicated friend in danger without facing legal consequences.

Madison police spokesperson Joel DeSpain said that while university events are under the jurisdiction of UWPD, Madison’s police will pick up enforcement Thursday through Sunday during the school year to ensure safety downtown.

“We work hard to get cooperation with bars and taverns to prevent underage drinking,” DeSpain said. “We do checks, we do a lot of educational efforts to talk with students through neighborhood officers and others about the dangers of excessive drinking.”

Chapman said in Wisconsin, while it may not be legally more lenient on alcohol, culturally is more permissive as a college campus. He said students come in with a false sense of invincibility about alcohol, not realizing how an academic misconduct record can affect employment, as well as applications into competitive programs such as the schools of business, journalism or engineering.

“Students come in thinking, ‘I could get away with anything’ when using alcohol in a low-risk way,” Chapman said. “The permissiveness around heavier drinking is there. If all of our students average drink quantity was one or two drinks, this wouldn’t be our major issue. But because our average is five or more, we’re talking about this.”