Alcohol Violations Increase on Campus

Screenshot of the Security Report, Emily Garver

Belmont students apparently enjoyed themselves a lot over the past two years, 25% more in fact. 

Belmont’s reported liquor law violations rose from 140 to 175, up 25% from 2022 to 2024, despite enrollment increasing by less than 1%. 

175 violations also equate to 2% of the student body.  

“A lot of times, a lot of liquor law violations come from room searches where Res-Life do their research for drugs or whatever it might be, and they'll also find alcohol in the room too,” Campus Security Major Taylor Gray said. 

The U.S. Department of Education requires colleges and universities to report crime and safety statistics on campus. These include any crime reported to local law enforcement or Campus Security. The report included statistics for the previous three years of reported crimes. 

“Our enrollment numbers this year, we are at an all-record high, so more students will equal more things,” Gray said. 

Belmont’s enrollment in the time frame of the report peaked in 2022, with 8,910 students. The following two years it decreased to 8,872 and 8,803.  

Though enrollment decreased, Campus Security says the behavior patterns of students stay consistent every year.  

“The first semester of the year from August to about Halloween, you'll have an uptick in this type of stuff, and then once it gets kind of close to midterms and finals, they start to taper down,” Gray said. 

In addition to alcohol usage, liquor law violations include possession as well, including students both under and over 21.  

“We hope that people are obeying the rules... but we, unfortunately, cannot catch everything,” resident assistant Hannah Christensen said. 

After a violation is found, Campus Security reports it to the director of community accountability. The punishment depends on the situation and is on a case-by-case basis.  

Christensen, as an RA, has a different experience from Campus Security when reporting violations. 

“We are the ones who are the first responders in regards to the alcohol situations.  We are the ones who take photographic evidence. We dispose of it, we have to write reports... Campus Security and our RDs have access to them, so that's how those kind of overlap,” she said. 

Campus Security is working to decrease the numbers by hosting alcohol awareness events around campus. Officers teach an alcohol safety class for WELLCore and speak during Welcome Week with students and parents.  

In addition,  all students take online alcohol safety counseling course before coming to campus. 

To see the full annual security report, click here. 

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This article was written by Emily Garver