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Over the weekend a Newcastle University student tragically passed away in their halls of residence. Whilst details have not been officially revealed, the email just received from the VC of the university suggests it was alcohol/ drug related. The email has no empathy or sympathy.
The consumption of alcohol and recreational drugs is part of the university experience for many. This is a FACT regardless of your own personal opinion or the illegalities of it. It fills me with anger that many Universities continue to adopt the “war on drugs” stance.
Is taking and possessing drugs illegal? Yes. Should any institution promote drug taking? No. However, whilst as the email quotes “your safety is in your hands”, I believe this hardened stance causes more issues than it solves and actually puts lives at risk.
Students are afraid to seek help when themselves or a friend is taken ill through issues relating to drugs because of the stance taken. The university should be proactive in seeking to help students. Educate on the risks by all means but provide information and testing kits.
Providing these things does not promote drug use. It is a way of mitigating the risk to individuals who take them regardless. This isn’t an issue of how the University and its students are perceived by people, it’s about taking the correct stance morally to protect our students.
And this stance is not just taken about drugs. As the email also refers to drinking and doing it “sensibly”, the University also needs to do more in this area. It’s is only several years since a student at the university died due to the effects of excessive alcohol consumption.
As a student of the university who had just concluded research in to pre-drinking culture amongst the cities students around this time, I was contacted by a member of the support services at the university after they read about my research in a blog on @AlcoholChangeUK.
I had several meetings with this staff member about what the university could do better in terms of their stance on alcohol and substance consumption on and off campus. I brought my findings as well as resources I had acquired from global conferences I had attended.
I shared my ideas which included providing information packs for students that were not aggressive or patronising in tone, as well as large graphic posters around the SU etc about how to remain safe under the influence of alcohol and substances.
We even planned to conduct focus groups with students around the university halls to get their perspective and find out how the uni could do better. The staff member who contacted me was very passionate about this issue and was incredibly proactive in pursuing it.
However, not long after, despite an inquest in to the students death, I received an email saying that it wasn’t the right time as the service was very busy with internal changes. Despite saying they would pursue the idea eventually and get back in touch, this never happened.
It is simply not good enough. The university has a responsibility to provide a safe and comfortable environment for students regardless of adult status. Consuming drugs and alcohol is a choice, but it wouldn’t take much to make this a safer process if people so wish to do it.
I am heartbroken that several years after the death of a student it has happened again and the university stance has not changed. I am happy to talk to anyone again and share my now outdated findings, but what I really want to do is help make a change.
I started at this university in 2014. I’ve lived in halls and student houses in. I’ve been an undergraduate, a masters student and a teaching PhD student. I cannot in good faith keep my mouth shut about this both morally and due to the research I’ve done and continue to do.
I will continue to contact the university and push for change in these matters now more than ever. I would like to ask for any support from student or staff in aiding this change. This isn’t about politics or media perception, it’s about our students lives.
My heart goes out to the deceased and their family, as well as all the students effected by this tragic event. I appreciate the university cannot comment due to an active investigation, but a patronising email to grieving students that lacks sympathy is completely inappropriate.
