The policy, briefly
Underage possession or consumption, providing alcohol to minors, and any illegal drug use violate the code of conduct and state law; first-year residence halls are alcohol-free regardless of age. Conduct outcomes for a first, low-level alcohol violation are usually educational. The point of the policy is safety, not a hunt.
What actually raises risk
Drinking fast, drinking on an empty stomach, mixing alcohol with other drugs (including some prescriptions), losing track of how much, and drinking in an unfamiliar place without people you trust. High-risk stretches are the first weeks of the term, big event weekends, and 21st birthdays. Cannabis and alcohol together, and anything counterfeit or of unknown dose, sharply raise the odds of a bad outcome.
The medical amnesty rule
If you call for help for someone who is dangerously intoxicated — or for yourself — the university's amnesty policy means neither of you faces conduct sanctions for the alcohol or drug use itself. Never not call because you are worried about getting in trouble. The signs to call 911 for: cannot be woken, slow or irregular breathing, blue or pale and cold skin, repeated vomiting while not fully conscious, a seizure.
Looking out for each other
Go out with people, agree to leave together, keep an eye on drinks, and step in early when a friend is heading toward too much — a glass of water, some food, a ride home. Bystander and harm-reduction training covers how to intervene without a scene. Knowing where naloxone is on campus and how to use it is worth an hour; opioid overdose can involve counterfeit pills.
If you want to cut back or stop
The counseling center does confidential assessment and brief intervention and can connect you with treatment if you want more. The collegiate recovery program is a peer community for students in or seeking recovery, with sober events and recovery housing. You do not have to have a "problem" by any definition to use either — questioning your use is enough.
A social life that does not require it
A lot of campus life is genuinely not built around drinking: intramurals, the outdoor program, maker and competition teams, arts events, late-night programming, and most student organizations. The recovery community runs its own events, and plenty of students who are not in recovery go to those.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. Every office, person, building, phone number and statistic on this page is invented; nothing here describes a real institution or a service you can actually contact.