Whitman College
- Campus Strictness

Choose to Act Responsibly

With regards to alcohol, Whitman's policy basically boils down to this: you are an adult and can make your own decisions. It is against the law to drink if you are under 21 years of age, but if you do decide to drink, do it responsibly.

In cases where drinking gets out of hand, Whitman never hesitates to step in and make sure that the drinker and the students surrounding the drinker are safe. While Whitman encourages students to make their own decisions and recognize the consequences behind those decisions, Whitman never hesitates to step in immediately if things get out of hand.

Not at All

As long as you aren't a danger to yourself or others security will leave you alone. Whitman is about fostering responsible individuals and knows that we are adults, so they give us a lot of leeway because they know we can take care of ourselves.

Responsibility Is Rewarded

Like most colleges, freshman at Whitman receive a drug and alcohol talk during orientation. In the presentation (and in policy), drug use is strongly discouraged but for alcohol use, the school chooses to promote responsibility, rather than fight the uphill battle for complete abstinence. As a result more students go for help if they or a friend is in trouble due to alcohol use. I can also quote several people in one floor of the "party dorm" who still used the sheets we were given (they had charts outlining blood alcohol level and resulting symptoms) in the presentation months previous to provide a safe limit for themselves. Local police allow Whitman to deal with students as they see fit but will put a damper on any party gone out of hand or student that's flaunting underage drinking (ex. displaying beer bottles in their dorm window.