Pitt students challenge University alcohol policy

A Pitt senior says he has collected about 1,000 signatures from students who hope the Pitt… A Pitt senior says he has collected about 1,000 signatures from students who hope the Pitt police will pledge to stop citing underage students who go to UPMC Presbyterian for medical attention. But a University spokesman said he doubts Pitt will change its practices.

Student Giles Howard and two members of the Publius Foundation think tank, which he founded, have been circulating a petition for three weeks that asks Pitt to instruct its officers not to cite underage students in UPMC. Instead, he and the other members of the foundation want the University to station counselors from Student Health in the hospital, so they can recommend counseling for students who drink under age.

“That would be a much more productive action than just citing students,” said Howard, who declined to provide documentation of the petition, saying he doesn’t want to make it public until he sends it to Pitt.

Pitt spokesman John Fedele said he doubts a petition would hold much sway over the administration. He said he feared that changing the University’s ways might open Pitt up to allegations of preferential treatment or profiling. He added that Pitt can’t arbitrarily decide when to enforce the law.

“It’s not a zero tolerance policy,” Fedele said of Pitt’s practice. “It’s Pennsylvania law.”

Over the past two years, Pitt police have issued two underage drinking citations at UPMC and another two within a block of the hospital, according to police records. None have occurred within the past six months.

Fedele said Pitt has a contract with UPMC to station officers in the hospital. These officers are there to keep the peace, not to cite students, Fedele said.

Fedele said that, in most cases, citations issued to underagers in the hospital aren’t from police stationed there. Police who respond with medics will likely follow them and write the citation in the hospital.

“Medics are not going to wait for the police to finish their citations, the police will just follow them,” he said.

Incident reports for the citations were not immediately available.

Howard said that the number of citations were not his primary concern. He’s trying to combat students’ perceptions that emergency rooms are not a safe place for them.

“If you let this go on, students whose judgment is already impaired might make horrible decisions,” he said.

Fedele reiterated that Pitt has a responsibilty to abide by the law.

Pitt officials, including police spokesman Ron Bennett, have previously stated that underage Pitt students who drink and visit the hospital can receive citations, which can include a fine of up to $500.

Howard said he hopes to collect signatures for another week before submitting the petition to Pitt officials. He did not specify to which official or officials he would give it.

The petition does not make any reference to Pitt’s Student Judicial Board, which governs Pitt’s polices and can recommend students for counseling. The petition only references citations given by police officers.

Some universities throughout the nation have adopted policies similar to the one for which The Publius Foundation is advocating.