Black Hills State University Student Senate proposed a new initiative regarding the possession and consumption of alcohol on campus grounds. The petition started by student senators has made its way around the university, collecting signatures to demonstrate student interest in policy reform.

According to Student Senate Freshman Representative Kasaundra Talbot, the program isn’t entirely sure what the final change is going to look like yet. The organization plans to send out student surveys in order to gather a better understanding of student’s main concerns. From there, they will work in conjunction with University Administration and the Safety Committee to hopefully propose plan that all parties can agree upon.

Thus far, the petition calls for a change to the university’s policies and procedures regarding the possession and consumption of alcohol on university property. The aim of the policy reform would be to ensure that students can safely return to their homes on campus, not to encourage alcohol consumption.

This initiative was originally undertaken after Student Senators heard multiple stories of students not returning home after consuming alcohol and in turn staying at unsafe locations. The goal of the petition was to show that students desired a policy change.

“Student Senate is pushing [this initiative] because we believe there’s a solution that benefits all parties. That will help increase trust between students and administration/residence life to keep students safe,” President of Student Senate Wyatt Osthus said.

One transfer student who signed the petition said that a similar program was put in place in his old school and it dramatically reduced incidents of people “going out and getting hurt” in and around campus.

The Student Senate has been working with University Administration and the Safety Committee over the course of the school year, and has used this petition to further confirm and document student thoughts.

For more information talk to any student senators or attend a meeting in the BHSU Trump room located in the Hive at 4 p.m. every Wednesday.

  Contributions were made to this story by Dylan Jacobs.