Author: Riley Kimball
LAPD has arrested two Oxy students for driving under the influence of alcohol this calendar year, according to the Director of Campus Safety Hollis Nieto. In addition, Campus Safety has charged three other students with the same offense, according to Assistant Dean of Students Emily Harris. Many students have said that their experiences suggest an increase in drunk driving on and around campus.
“I see [a student] driving drunk at least twice a week this year,” Nolan Borgman (sophomore) said.
“Yes, I’ve drunk driven,” said one senior. “More than last year.”
However, despite student assertions, there is no statistical information to support such claims, according to Nieto.
“Do I think there has been an increase? No, because I don’t have hard facts to back that up. We can’t rely on anecdotal info to make that hard determination. But am I concerned about it? Yes,” Nieto said.
Campus Safety officers had no data to analyze the occurrence of drunk driving on campus with regards to previous years, according to Nieto. She noted that Campus Safety does not administer field sobriety tests, does not randomly stop student drivers and relies on the judgement of officers to confiscate keys of students who are obviously intoxicated.
Harris stated that there have been three instances of students driving while impaired – a number inconsistent with Campus Safety’s reported statistics – but attributed this to the lack of sobriety tests administered at the time of the incident.
Nieto expressed the administration’s concern regarding the drunk driving issue, but said it is not a new threat.
“What I know of, LAPD has had two arrests of students, which is not unusual. What’s causing that is something we are grappling with as an institution,” said Nieto. “I’ve been with Campus Safety since 1993 and I’ve always cared about drunk driving.”
Nieto also suggested that there is a possible lack of student communication with Campus Safety. “If students are quiet [about reporting drunk driving], we won’t hear about it,” Nieto said.
According to Harris, the administration’s new exercise of the “Inherent Authority” rule can also be looked at as an effort to curb drunk driving. This policy, which extends the jurisdiction of college rules beyond campus grounds, has increased Campus Safety’s capacity to regulate partying and other off-campus activities. According to the policy, it applies “to conduct that occurs on college premises, at college sponsored or sanctioned activities and to off-campus conduct that adversely affects the community and/or the pursuit of its objectives.”
“I believe the policy has helped as it applies to off campus parties – our relations with the community are improving,” Nieto said.
“I hear concerns [about drunk driving], but I hope that students practice safe consumption. People need to take some additional precautions, some responsibility,” Harris said.
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