The Middlebury Campus

Issue date: 10/6/05 Section: Local News

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Walking with an open container of beer, a Middlebury College student was stopped on campus by a Middlebury Police Department (MPD) officer last fall. The officer drove up and asked, "What's in your hand?" to which the underage student, who wishes to remain anonymous, answered the officer truthfully. According to the party involved, the officer called Public Safety to confirm the student's identity, administered a breath test, cited the student for violating an open container ordinance and a Vermont law forbidding underage drinking and then left the student in the custody of a friend.

"I always thought it was separate [the College and the town]," the student said in a recent interview. "I thought there was an implicit agreement with the police that we [the College] handle this. You stay out of it."

While these types of incidents, by all accounts, are limited, they illustrate a general misconception by students who view the College and its property as a sort of asylum in which outside laws and regulations do not necessarily apply.

This is an easy trap to fall into as the College, in essence, has created its own functioning legislative, executive and judicial system. The administration establishes the rules, both academic and social, which are delineated in the College Handbook. A private security force is employed to respond to and investigate incidents on campus and a judicial system is in place to interpret the rules and to reprimand students accordingly.

But as Middlebury Police Chief Thomas Hanley stated, "the campus does not insulate you from the law," whether that law is local, state or federal.

At its most basic level, the College is private property. While there are specific emergency plans for the College regarding issues like crowd control and special event coordination, the police force treats all residents, permanent or temporary, equally. Hanley describes the MPD's relationship with the College and college students as no different than with anyone else.

Echoing this sentiment, Lisa Boudah, associate dean of Student Affairs and director of Public Safety, reiterated that the College is private land. "Just because you own the property, does not mean you can commit a crime on it," she said.

Continued...

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