Athletes Review Alcohol Policy

The Athletic Department will consider a draft of an alcohol policy that would create a uniform standard preventing alcohol usage among all athletes. Currently, alcohol usage is handled differently among each team and coach in the department, which creates discrepancies when handling the misuse of alcohol.

First-year Curtis Dehmey, senior Steph Good, first-year Lisa King, and sophomore Joy Shaiebly, with the support of Mike Downey, athletic trainer, and Ruth Anne Wideman, assistant professor of physical education, drafted a policy specifically for athletes that addresses issues of uniformity, standards, and expectations. The policy, modeled after other schools', matches the legal and Community Lifestyle Commitment's standards of alcohol use, but goes beyond these standards by asking athletes 21 or older to refrain from alcohol use while in non-traditional or traditional season.

The proposal is still in the beginning stages. The students began working on this issue at the Athletic Prevention Programming and Leadership Education conference sponsored by the NCAA in January. The conference uses slices of an apple to represent issues that athletes and athletic departments encounter at colleges and universities. The students chose to focus on the expectations and attitudes slice, which enabled them to "clean up the alcohol issue since there are a variety of management styles," said Downey.

After the conference, they e-mailed a draft to all EMU athletes and presented it to the Committee on Peer Education (COPE), the Student Athletic Council (SAC), and the Student Athletic Mentors (SAM) for discussion and input. Each group had a positive response to the draft, but the coaches questioned what the consequences of violating the policy would be.

At this time, there are no specific consequences determined for violating the policy. Downey predicts that they will focus on consequences during the next conference. He does not want punishments, but sanctions that have a restorative and redemptive focus rather than a disciplinary focus. He wants this policy to be in line with EMU's values, and expects that the athletic department would work with student life in this area.

The policy needs to be formally reviewed and revised, but athletes and coaches said they are looking forward to having a standard approach to alcohol use.