According to the 2007-08 Annual Security Report, Guilford is a relatively peaceful place where students love to get high. Over the past three years, few violent crimes were committed on campus but there have been 196 drug law violations.

The 2007-08 Annual Security Report publishes the public safety records, or crime statistics, for the calendar years 2004, 2005, and 2006, along with information about campus policies and procedures.

Guilford publishes the security report to adhere with the Jeanne Clery Act, a federal law with which every college or university in the United States must comply.

The Clery Act, passed in 1990, emphasizes the responsibility of those campus administrators who closely interact with students and organize campus activities to report known crimes.

The most common campus crimes include liquor law violations, drug law violations, and sexual assaults.

“I’m sure people could look at our statistics and ask what’s wrong with Guilford,” said dean for Campus Life Aaron Fetrow, who is also the interim Director of Public Safety.

In 2004, there were 89 reported drug law violations, 39 in 2005, and 68 in 2006. In fall 2003, drug sanctions were made more severe and residential advisors and Public Safety became more vigilant.

“(In 2005) the numbers dropped and students started getting smarter as they watched their friends get caught,” Fetrow said. “Kids began smoking in the woods instead of in the dorms.”

The rise in violations from 2005 to 2006 accentuates the behavioral problems of 2006’s first-year class.

“The majority of those reports came from first-years,” Fetrow said.

The same is true for liquor law violations. In 2004 there were 163 reported violations, 174 in 2005, and 175 in 2006.

It is unclear why drug violations have decreased and alcohol violations have not. Despite the rising number of liquor law violations, some students feel Public Safety’s attitude towards alcohol has become less harsh.

“Public Safety seems a lot more relaxed this year. Officers have seen me carrying open beverages in public and they just tell me to put it away, and that I should know better,” junior Aidan Cahill said.

Sophomore Lucas Campbell disagrees about Public Safety’s seemingly “lax” behavior.

“This year I’ve gotten bugged by public safety for doing work in the Green Leaf coffee co-operative in the basement of Mary Hobbs late at night. I’ve also heard stories of kids being chased by golf carts in the woods,” Campbell said.

As Guilford has increased the penalties for drug and alcohol violations, they have also improved how they deal with reported sexual assaults.

Reported forcible sexual offenses, or any sexual act directed at another person against that person’s will, dramatically increased from one to nine from 2004 to 2005.

This increase in reports is largely due to Guilford’s establishment of their sexual assault advocacy program in 2004.

“(Associate Dean for Campus Life) Alyson Kienle came in with a tremendous wealth of experience in this area,” Fetrow said. “In 2004 we weren’t getting messages from women about acquaintance rape, but by 2005 we had a 24-hour cell phone hotline students could use to report sexual assaults and seek help from trained advocates.”

Fetrow wants to remind everyone that residence halls at many other colleges stink of marijuana on Friday nights, too.
“Our numbers probably aren’t that much different than other schools,” Fetrow said. “It’s just that we address our problems and then try to learn from them.”