Incident at the Penthouse

With the fall semester now in full swing, the talk around campus is centered on the new dormitory: West Kennedy Hall. Talk is not limited to West Kennedy Hall’s new construction, however. On Saturday, Aug. 25, campus security were directed to the penthouse suite of the new dorm to investigate multiple noise complaints. When they arrived at the eleventh-floor suite, they came upon a party in full swing with about 20 to 30 students ranging from freshmen to seniors, many under the influence of alcohol.

Linda Devine, vice president of operations and planning at UT, was able to confirm that campus security arrived to disperse the party, according to the crime logs from that night.

“If an item appears on the Crime Log, it is because a person came to the Campus Safety office and made a report, or Campus Safety staff members were dispatched to a situation to stabilize the environment,” Devine said. “Every such encounter receives a case number, and that case becomes part of the official record.”

One freshman, who wished to remain anonymous, discussed the events of that night.

“I had no intention of going to the party. My friend lived in the penthouse and I just wanted to see what it looked like,” the freshman said.

According to the student, not all of the residents in the penthouse were aware that the party was going to happen. Only a few of the residents invited people over. The penthouse suite houses sixteen students who were selected out of a housing lottery to live in the two-story residence suites. Eight males live on one floor while eight females live on the other.

“It was definitely loud, that was the reason I was leaving when security came,” the anonymous student said. “As I was trying to leave, I was stopped by two campus officers and was told that nobody was allowed to go.”

The party originally started at 11 p.m., but security didn’t arrive until 12:32 a.m., according to an email the student received.

Every student in the penthouse when security arrived had their name taken and was sent a follow-up email requiring attendance to a private seminar in Reeves Theater. This included students who were not drinking illegally and students who did not possess any alcohol. These students were each given packets of information and sat through a PowerPoint presentation with different heads of Residence Life in attendance. The Minaret was prohibited from attending these meetings.

There were multiple crime log reports from that night, ranging from verbal abuse between roommates to marijuana and alcohol possession. The crime log reports indicated these incidence occurred around 1 a.m. in West Kennedy Hall, though the floor numbers were not specified.

Director of Campus Safety Kevin Howell described the different violations that this party resulted in, as well as the actions campus security was able to take.

“There is something called constructive possession, which basically states that if some type of drug, including alcohol, is in a position where anyone at the party could have access to it, then we have to charge everybody there with that possession. That is, unless someone there steps forward to claim it,” Howell said.

Within the student code of conduct, there is such a thing as a Social Host Violation, which states that any student in whose contracted residence hall space a alcohol violation occurs, is subjected to an alcohol/drug assessment by a counselor, termination from campus housing, and is charged a $200 prevention fee. Plus, if the student is financially dependent or is under the age of 21, their parents or guardians are notified. This means that the other residents who were not responsible for the party, could potentially have been charged with a Social Host Violation.

“Although campus security is in charge of apprehending and filing reports when incidents like this occur, we are not the ones to set the penalties. That’s the area of Student Conduct,” Howell said.

The freshman who was caught at the party relayed that she is being charged with alcoholic beverage possession, despite the fact that she was just a bystander.

“I don’t understand how they can charge any of us with drinking or consuming alcoholic beverages almost a week later. They can’t breathalyze me or anybody now,” the freshman said.

 works with the Student Conduct office and explained the different disciplinary actions that can be taken in situations like this.

“Campus Security is completely segregated from Student Conduct. Ultimately our job is not to levy a judgement on any student for their actions. There are even some cases that we can provide commentary at a student’s hearing on their behalf,” Devine said.

Ultimately, students living on campus face many risks when bringing alcohol into their dorms. Students attending get togethers where alcohol is involved are facing the same kinds of risks, merely due to their presence. Underage drinking is not only prohibited by UT and Campus Security, it is the law.

None of the administrators involved at the multiple seminars were allowed to comment on the incident.

Lauren Richey can be reached at lauren.richey@theminaretonline.com

Katherine Lavacca can be reached at katherine.lavacca@theminaretonline.com