Tuttle's Thoughts on Alcohol

Relax. I think you are a fine typist.

Dean: The title of this post deals with your thoughts on alcohol. I am interested to know what your thoughts are, and if they are based upon your background as a recovering alcoholic and/or faith, and how so?

Thanks for asking! I think my thoughts on our policy and enforcement have been spelled out. I think you are asking me on a personal level what my thoughts are.

I think my past makes me more understanding of drinkers. I don't mean people with drinking problems, because I think that goes without saying. I have been able to have good discussions with students facing important decisions about sobriety and treatment. As a side note, it is really hard to find a place, as a college student, to get help - because students get lumped in with people with far more history and they seem more like REAL alcoholics.

But I feel like I understand our run-of-the-mill drinking students who just want to drink for kicks, to have fun, and get a little out of control. I think I would be a hypocrite if I didn't get that. I really don't like that the University has to enforce the policy (but we do). I'd rather let students make their own choices and deal with consequences. We live in a country where alcohol is pervasive so why not get used to it in college and experiment when learning to be independent? Except for my addiction, I have some great memories that involved partying.

Nevertheless, I have seen the downside personally and through others. I have seen lives ruined because of alcohol and sexual assault. I have seen alcohol lead to student deaths. I have seen alcohol lead to injuries and alcohol poisoning. I have seen students flunk out because they drank too much and studied too little. Sometimes it just seems so foolish. So much at stake, yet alcohol seems to win out so often. I thought Mark Sterner gave us a perfect example of that during his talk last year. So while I would like students to make their own choices, I think the drinking age and policy provide a better more liveable environment in the dorms than if the age was 18.

Anyways, I don't know if I answered your question. I can tell you my own experience doesn't make me against alcohol or drinkers. I clearly don't have al the answers on the topic. It is far bigger than one person's experience or one campus.

Dean Tuttle,

Don't you get sick of people inquiring about the alcohol policy year after year? I'm sure that with every new generation of students, you go through the same process of saying, "Hey, I think our policies are fair and we're doing the best we can."

I think you guys are doing great. I think your policies are fair. And I respect that you stay involved with the student body so we know that you are actively trying to help us out. I've heard plenty of people talk smack about you, but I know that you're just a badass.

#34, every "generation of students" has the right to ask its own questions. Do you suggest that all the Dean should do is say we have addressed those questions before, and that's that?

Thank you 34. I think 35 is right: that it is important to keep explaining things since we basically have 25% annual turnover of the student body. It just comes with the territory. I appreciate the being a badass though... I think.

An early poster referred to alcohol consumption as a "cultural phenomenon." To the extent that the term "phenomenon" is generally used to convey something positive, something far above the ordinary, the use of the term in connection with alcohol consumption is jarring to me: I have seen too many lives, young and old, devastated by the use and abuse of alcohol to view alcohol consumption as a positive force in society. Make no mistake. Alcohol consumption isn't necessarily a negative force. Irresponsible consumption of alcohol, however, almost always leads to negative consequences sooner or later.

As for the charge that Trinity "unilaterally" adopted policies to regulate alcohol consumption on campus, it would arguably be criminally irresponsible for Trinity to take no action to control underage drinkiing. Moreover, while the policies may strike students as "unilateral," the policies are no more "unilateral" than any other act taken by Trinity to comply with applicable laws. To those students who argue for full freedom vis-a-vis alcohol and other intoxicants, your fight is with the state, not Trinity.

Trinity's policy strikes me as a reasonable response to Trinity's legal responsibility as well as its responsibility to the Trinity community as a whole. My question is whether the students who bristle under the feather weight of the policy have or will commit to exercising personal responsibility vis-a-vis alcohol consumption. Some do. Many, however, don't. Therein lies the problem.

Love the pseudonym atticus finch, and true to your name-sake you present a good lawyerly argument. However, many of us have a problem with trinity's policy after we are of legal age to drink, and, therefore, our beef is with the school, not the state.

can i get some wow gold up in here?