Guilty By Association: Drinking Policies at University of Minnesota Duluth

The guilty by association rule at University of Minnesota-Duluth is a bad policy because it allows people who had nothing to do with underage alcohol consumption to suffer for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The policy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth states that all of those in a room where underage alcohol consumption is taking place will be penalized whether they were drinking or not. There will be a citation given and/or a fine. If you receive a minor there is a one hundred plus dollar fine and a seventy-five dollar class you must attend. Not to mention the fine is increased every time you are found in a drinking environment.
For next year’s incoming students, make sure that you are very sneaky and never have any friends that will drink near you. This advice is absolutely horrible, but is what many students must do in order to feel out of danger at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. The authorities here follow this rule and if caught, you will suffer these consequences. We feel that this policy is intensely flawed. There have already been circumstances where friends of ours have suffered the negative consequences of this policy. Our dear friend Lindsey just this past weekend was simply in a room where consumption of alcohol was taking place when the police arrived and she got in trouble like everyone else. To sum this up, our stance on the guilty by association policy here at the University of Minnesota-Duluth is that it penalizes good kids for what other people are doing.

Here are a set of links that give more information on the subject:

http://www.d.umn.edu/assl/conduct/conduct/quick-facts.htm (The Underage Consumption of Alcohol policy at Duluth)

http://www.d.umn.edu/hlthserv/health_education/services/alcohol_drugs.html (UMD alcohol and drug information)