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Campus Strictness:

B+

(explain this grade)

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Amherst College, to the relief of those students who, on occasion, might find themselves disregarding the Massachusetts minimum drinking age, employs a small but adequate police force. The campus police officers are far more lenient than  Massachusetts state police officers, and usually the worst case scenario is that a college police officer reports you to the Dean of Students Office. This is not to say that you can’t get in trouble. Massachusetts has quite a few idiosyncratic bylaws concerning drinking, the most notorious being the one that forbids anyone from holding an open container of alcohol while outdoors. More than a few students have been taken into custody because they walked out of a party with a bottle still in their hand.

The College itself seems to be hospitable to the concept of a second chance. No one has been known to be permanently expelled from Amherst for any reason other than blatant academic dishonesty, and if someone has, they must have done something so atrocious as to warrant jail time. If the college administration recognizes a disciplinary problem, usually that student will be suspended for a year, and in cases of substance abuse, may be asked to take part in a rehabilitation program.

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Students Speak Out

Love your school more than free food? Hate your school more than term papers?
Somewhere in between? Show the world what YOU think of YOUR school:

AmhTH says:

Amherst College 2016

Math and Statistics

The police are strict about the...

The police are strict about the rules but do not actively search for offenders. Just be smart, don't cause problems, and you will be fine.

Campus Strictness: February 17, 2009
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AmhJF says:

Amherst College 2016

Undecided

The campus police are not very...

The campus police are not very strict. They don't like alcohol in freshman dorms, and they respond to noise complaints, but there really seems to be a tacit acceptance of widespread underage drinking. They do seem to know where all of the parties are and occasionally half-heartedly "bust" one, but "getting caught" is not a very big deal.

Campus Strictness: February 16, 2009
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AmhYH says:

Amherst College 2013

Law and Legal Studies

Police are not very strict, and...

Police are not very strict, and there is a pretty good relationship between the cops and the students. But some are better than others. Overall, you rarely have to worry about any repercussions for drinking. Drugs are a different story.

Campus Strictness: February 16, 2009
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Anonymous says:

I respect the officers here,...

I respect the officers here, because they realize that in college, kids are going to party, they are going to drink, and they are going to basically have fun on occasion. They understand that being unnecessarily strict will not help anyone. People have to know their own limits as far as drinking and partying are concerned. Most kids here do know their own limits.

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Anonymous says:

Campus police are very different...

Campus police are very different from state police in that campus police officers do give us humane treatment. They hold a meeting for freshmen every year to outline the rules that they expect us to abide by, and tell us the kinds of things that they will consider as crossing the line. I don’t think they are strict, and if they are, it’s because they feel they really have to be.

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Facts

What Are You Most Likely to Get Caught Doing on Campus?

  • Drinking underage, although usually campus police are lenient about this, and nothing will come of it.
  • Holding an open container of alcohol while outdoors
  • Holding an unauthorized party
  • Having unauthorized kegs
  • Parking illegally
  • Smoking indoors

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