“I’d give up anything to play one more game, go to one more practice. Don’t give up one day for anything,” Athletic Director and Head Basketball Coach Tom Palombo said to the student-athletes that filled over half of the seating in Dana Auditorium. Like almost every college, Guilford holds its athletes to high standards, and drug use of any kind is strongly discouraged and prohibited. Head athletic trainer Kirsten Schrader gave a better input on the policy than what I learned from reading the Student-Athlete Handbook, which you can find on the Guilford Web site.

Schrader created this policy to help athletes, and even educate them. The title of the new drug policy is “Drug/Banned Substance, Awareness, Education, and Screening Policy.”

The new system is similar to the old one. There are three punishments that are determined by whether a positive test is an athletes’ first, second, or third offense.

The first offense requires the athlete to undergo counseling, and they are subject to testing whenever their coach or Schrader think it is necessary.

The second offense compels the athlete to counseling and a 30 day suspension from game time and practice.

The third offense forces the student to seek help outside of school. This means suspension from the team and Guilford College.

In the Guilford Student-Athlete Handbook, there is a section dedicated to the Drug and Alcohol policy. Student-athletes do not have any privileges over non-athletes and will be charged with whatever aspect of the policy that they abused. Possessing, consuming, and/or transporting of any drug that is in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) banned drugs list is prohibited.

“This is meant, not as an attack, but to help you,” Schrader said as she looked out at the athletes of Guilford.

She’s there to help, and by testing five percent of all athletes, those who use illegally banned drugs will get the help they need. Athletes should hold themselves to high standards and refrain from drug use of any kind.

Now, with the support of the school and the coaches, the new drug policy is finally in place. For over a year, Schrader worked diligently with several people to come up with a way to help athletes and Guilford in the best way.

“Personally, I think the drug-testing policy is a necessary part of athletics today, considering all the substances out there that can be used either for recreation or to get an unfair advantage,” said sophomore baseball player Zach Daw. “However, I don’t agree that the athletes are the only ones that are tested and that the general school population should be subject to testing as well.”

Daw makes good points, but testing non-athletes oversteps the boundaries of Schrader’s policy, implemented for athletes. If Guilford tested everyone, the campus would change dramatically, and Guilford doesn’t have the funds to go to a level that extreme.

This plan is here to help athletes and to make sure that they don’t miss one practice or game. Their time at Guilford will go by faster than they can imagine.