Belmont's Liquor, Drug Violations Higher than Similar Universities
Belmont has consistently higher rates of alcohol violations and drug violations when compared with similar Christian universities in Tennessee.
Between 2022 and 2025, Belmont’s rates per 1,000 students were higher than the number per 1,000 for Lipscomb University, Lee University and Union University, according to their annual safety reports, which are mandated by law according to the Clery Act. Union has not yet released its safety report for 2025.
From 2022 to 2024, Belmont’s liquor violations rose from 140 to 175; 15.71 per 1,000 to 19.88 per 1,000. In 2025, it dipped back down to 153; 17.05 per 1,000.
However, Union University, the university with the second-highest numbers, reached 9.35 per 1,000 at its peak in 2023. Lipscomb and Lee also peaked in 2023, with Lipscomb reporting 4.95 per 1,000 and Lee reporting 1.07 per 1,000.
Drug violations were less common than liquor violations for all these universities, but Belmont still has the most. Its peak was 2025, with 3.01 violations per 1,000 students. Lipscomb’s highest number was 1.99 per 1,000 in 2024, and Union and Lee never got up to one per 1,000 students.
But Belmont is not the highest in burglaries – Union University took the top spot for 2022-2024.
While Belmont had lower numbers of burglaries, Chief of Campus Security Michael Moultry explains how the university still works to keep burglaries down.
“Vanderbilt, just two weeks ago, had an uptick on burglaries of motor vehicles. So instantly, I want to make sure officers were aware of that,” Moultry said.
Mark Labbe, Belmont’s associate vice president of public safety and risk management, provided a few reasons why some of Belmont’s liquor and drug violations are much higher.
For one thing, Belmont is about twice the size of Lipscomb, about three times the size of Union and over twice the size of Lee.
“We're also smack dab in the middle of a major metropolitan area. I know Lipscomb is a mile away, but it's a very different mile from where we are,” said Labbe. “If you're in a rural area or just a smaller town in general, you don't have as much going on around you.”
Liquor and drugs are more accessible to students in an urban area, he said. In addition, many of the crimes or incidents reported on campus are not committed by Belmont students or Belmont community members. For incidents like burglaries, students are often the victims, not the perpetrators, he said.
Belmont also tends to over-report rather than under-report, which may contribute to having some higher numbers.
“We usually err on the side of counting it to make sure we're being as transparent as possible,” said Labbe.
Sophomore student Hailey Selock offers another explanation for Belmont’s higher drug and liquor violations – the fact that students are heavily involved in the music industry.
“It doesn't surprise me, considering the music industry is so heavily interconnected with partying,” said Selock. “We're exposed to that easier because we want to get gigs.”
No matter how many violations occur at Belmont, Campus Security is working to keep campus safe.
“When it comes to any uptick on something, as far as crimes, we look for ways to solve that,” said Labbe.
Written by Olivia Abernathy
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