Early in the morning of Sept. 11, police responded to a call on King George Court in Greensboro. Leaving an off-campus party, three pedestrians were hit by a car. The three victims and the driver were Guilford College students.

A group of eight students left the party on foot to return to their dorms when three were struck by a vehicle.

Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Aaron Fetrow said the Office of Campus Life was very thankful that this accident did not end up in the death of one of Guilford’s students.

“One student was seriously injured and that is awful; however, the results could have been much worse,” Fetrow said.

While two of the victims suffered minor injuries, the third fell to the curb, fracturing her skull and suffering internal bleeding in her brain.

Rising senior and vice president of the CCE Student Government Association Yolanda Mason, says she is deeply disheartened to hear that an accident like this could have been caused by a Guilford student.

“It’s sad with all the campaigns against drunk driving that you still hear of accidents,” Mason said.

“Put your self in the other person’s shoes; I can’t imagine what it must have felt like to suffer injuries like a fractured skull.”

Fetrow said that he, too, was terribly disappointed.

“The Division of Student Affairs, your high school teachers, your faculty, and your friends can only preach about responsibility with alcohol for so long,” Fetrow said.

Fetrow stated that at some point it is the direct responsibility of each student making a choice to drink to think about how they are using alcohol and what the consequences of that use could be.

“Students need to take responsibility for themselves and each other when it comes to these choices about alcohol, and other substances for that matter,” said Director of Student Judicial Affairs Sandy Bowles.

“When an incident that occurs off-campus comes to our attention, we have generally responded through the judicial process (in addition to whatever other support students may benefit from),” Bowles said.

Senior Brian Daniel, an education major and Binford Hall resident advisor, said it is not uncommon to see students leave campus under the influence of alcohol. He said that when completing his rounds and breaking up campus parties, he is often troubled by what he sees that follows.

“It’s disheartening to see fellow Guilford students make such ill-advised decisions, such as taking the party off-campus or getting into their cars while drunk and driving off,” said Daniel.

Maria Rosales, assistant professor of political science, said she understands students will go to parties, but it disturbs her to see Guilford students hurt while out trying to have a good time.

“If you can afford to go out to a off-campus party and drink, you should be able to afford a taxi to get you safely home,” Rosales said.

At the Sept. 22 Community Senate meeting, Tammy Alt, associate dean for campus life, addressed the senate regarding students’ responsibilities to themselves and others.

“We have done all we can do, we are now handing this back to you, the students — take responsibility for your actions,” Alt said.

In reaction to the argument that the alcohol policy is forcing students to party off-campus, Fetrow says there is no logic to that line of thinking at all.

“The argument that we force students to drink and drive by enforcing an alcohol policy is illogical,” Fetrow said. “Nobody forces anybody to get behind the wheel under the influence, period.”