Legislation being proposed at the Capitol seeks to encourage students at UW System campuses to call for help for intoxicated friends, even if they themselves are underage and have also been drinking.
“It would require that the university not suspend you if you called for help for a friend, and it would also void any citations by law enforcement,” said the bill’s author, Senator Fred Risser (D-Madison). The policy is already in place at UW Madison. “This bill would make it a statewide policy, covering all the four-year and two-year campuses.”
“What’s beautiful about this is right now, a lot of underage drinking takes place in the shadows, and people aren’t willing to come forward in emergency situations or as witness to a crime,” said Dylan Jambrek, Government Affairs Director for the United Council of UW Students.
“It’s not only if the other person needs detox or an ambulance. It also would apply if they were witness to a crime or the victim of a crime, for instance, sexual assault,” Jambrek said.
Risser’s bill, (SB 222) has been referred to the Senate Committee on Universities and Technical Colleges.
John Colbert, WIBA
