IVORY TOWERS: The Newest Admissions Test?

On March 21, three fraternities at the University of Virginia suspected of trafficking narcotics were raided by area and university police in cooperation with 47 federal, state and county narcotics agents. The drug bust led to the arrests of 14 students and brought national media attention to the university. And the bust has since led to a growing debate about the constitutionality of random drug testing and whether it should be used on students in colleges. · UVA Police Chief Mike Sheffield said last week that last month's search and seizure operation, called Operation Equinox, "was the culmination of several months of investigation by local law officers." Eight students were indicted on federal charges and another four were charged under state statutes. The students were charged with possession and intent to distribute ecstacy, marijuana, amphetamines, LSD and cocaine. According to police, the street value of all the drugs confiscated was less than $500. The three fraternity houses which were raided, Delta Upsilon, Phi Epsilon Pi and Tau Kappa Epsilon were seized by the U.S. Marshal Service, according to Charlottesville, Virginia Police Chief John Bowen. In the wake of the event, Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder has suggested that drug testing for students may be necessary to crack down on drug use on college campuses. The governor set up a Substance Abuse and Sexual Assault Task Force to look into illegal drug use in the state's schools. Laura Dillard, a spokesperson for Wilder, said that the governor "has said he would not have a problem if the task force came back with a recommendation on some kind of drug [testing]." But she downplayed reported accounts which have interpreted the Governor's remarks to mean that he favors mandatory drug testing for students. "Mandatory is not the word the governor used," Dillard said. "We're not talking about testing everyone who comes in. We're just saying that drug testing is an issue which ought to be open for debate." "We are a long way from developing a drug testing program," she added. And in a speech at the White House earlier this month, Bob Martinez, the new national drug policy director, said there are many alternatives that should be considered on college campuses before "anyone begins discussing random drug testing." Martinez said that the role of testing is primarily a "means of identifying problems which are hidden or less than obvious." "But in the UVA case, it seems, you didn't need a drug test to identify the problem," Martinez said. "Everybody knew about it." Martinez noted that the rates of illegal drug use are higher in the general population than for college students. Roughly one in eight American college students admitted using an illegal drug last month, and roughly one in three used an illegal drug at least once last year, Martinez said. · At UVA, President Jon Casteen has forced all fraternities and sororities to submit plans by the end of this month on how they would deal with the problems of substance abuse and date rape, according to Casteen spokesperson Louise Dudley. UVA Interfraternity Council president Matt Erskine said last week that Casteen will not renew Contracted Independent Oganization agreements with the Greeks unless they submit written strategies to deal with five issues: illegal drugs, underage drinking, sexual assault, hazing and discrimination. Erskine, a junior, said that many of the fraternities already have education programs and internal monitoring systems which fulfill Casteen's proposal. "The big change is that everybody has become more aware," he said. The UVA junior said that most Greeks back Casteen, and praised him "for being very fair in keeping a 100-year-old tradition" which allows students to monitor their own activities. · Beyond the question of whether current policymakers support mandatory drug testing are the debates over the efficacy and legality of such a policy on college campuses. Charlottesville Police Chief Bowen said he doubted that such a testing program could be implemented at a university. "The practicality of testing would be difficult even in a police station, not to mention a university setting," Bowen said. "You would have to deal with problems of operation and legality." But James Dyke, chairman of the governor's task force and state education secretary, has said that his committee will consider drug testing as an option. "We will not rule out the possible use of drug testing, but only where appropriate and constitutionally permissible," Dyke said in a speech before the first meeting of his task force. "We will look at every reasonable step to end the use of illegal drugs." UVA sophomore Matt Cooper, the executive director of the Student Associations of Virginia and the only undergraduate on the governor's task force, said last week that he believes drug testing is something which must be discussed, but added that he is "strongly against drug testing as an intrusion of students' rights." "I don't believe testing is feasible because of the great amount of money and trouble involved," Cooper added. President Casteen, who is also a member of the 27-member task force, is also opposed to drug testing, according to his spokesperson Dudley. She said the president has concerns that any such proposal would be unconstitutional. And legal experts at the University said they doubt drug testing students would become a practice at any college because of constitutional questions. Law Professor David Rudovsky said the Supreme Court has upheld drug testing only in two cases -- for transportation workers after accidents and for customs officials. However, these two occupations are linked to dangerous activities, while drug testing for students may violate the students' right to privacy. He added that drug testing for students "would be completely ineffective and probably not accomplish what they want." Law Professor Steve Burbank said random drug testing for students would be "impossible to defend and would be a disaster." · At UVA, the busted fraternities have been allowed to keep members in their houses through a special arrangement with the U.S. Marshal. Rusty Fitzgerald, the federal prosecutor for the case, said the arrangement between the fraternity members and the government is similar to bankruptcy proceedings where the courts are put in charge of the property. "In this case, the U.S. Marshal Service is serving as a substitute landowner," Fitzgerald said. He added that drug bust "is part of an ongoing investigation" and that others at UVA are under investigation. He added that the corporations which own the three houses are also under scrutiny. "It is foggy if the corporations have any liability, because they are informal associations of alumni which seem to have let their corporate status lapse," Fitzgerald said. Sam Meale, an agent from the Richmond Drug Enforcement Administration office, said that the various agencies at the different levels of government "made a mutual decision to go in" on the raid. He said the DEA involvement stemmed from the fact that "an ongoing DEA investigation led to UVA." IFC president Erskine said the IFC Judiciary Committee will launch its own investigation of the three fraternities after the students are tried in federal and state courts beginning in June. The committee can choose to no longer recognize the fraternities as being part of UVA Greek system. Currently, there are 38 fraternities at UVA which have over 400 members. UVA junior Kenny Heath was elected as the new chairman of UVA's Judiciary Committee on the same night that the drug bust occurred. He said last week that the committee has not yet begun its own investigation, because it only investigates cases which are brought to it by a complainant. He said that the raid "was a shock to everybody but it won't hurt UVA in the long run."

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