Faced with evidence that they are in charge of party schools, most college administrators either do nothing or hire an expensive public relations team to cover up the information from the public. That's why it's so refreshing to find an administrator who really is taking the problem seriously and working to fix the problems.
My newest hero is Charles Sorensen, chancellor of the University of Wisconsin at Stout, who has initiated a series of small, but important, reforms designed to deal with the party school problem. Faced with a series of alcohol-related deaths of students, he has courageously stepped forward and taken the steps to make his school less student friendly. You can read about his efforts here. See also this.
At first these look like fairly minor, mostly common sense things. Schedule moreFriday classes. Take attendance to make sure students show up for them. Expel students with multiple alcohol offenses. The college and the city plan to get tougher on students who abuse alcohol and house parties that feature illegal drinking.
While anyone who understands the party school problem should applaud these efforts, it's important to understand this is something of an experiment. Students who come to college to party rather then study, which at a party school like Stout might be more than half the student body, have already announced their displeasure. If too many of them leave it may cause enrollment problems for Stout, so keep your fingers crossed.
If the program works it is likely to be copied by other schools tired of calling parents telling them that their kid is one of the 1700 students who die each year because of alcohol abuse. If it doesn't work, it may take legislation to force colleges to be more responsible about policing their students.
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