Long before classes begin on DePauw's campus, students have arrive, bringing with them cars, boxes, and as often as not, a big headache for the administration.
This period of time before classes start and when students roam free has become known widely in the DePauw community as "camp college."
When discussing "camp college," Angie Nally, director of Public Safety, calls into question the time constraints of the "camp" in question.
"What do you define as camp college?" she asked.
Nally's own definition essentially divided the days before classes begin into two types: those occurring before opening day, and those occurring after. Since the majority of upperclassmen students move in on opening day, Aug. 24 this year, the violation heavy side of "camp college" seems to fall on the days (and nights) coming afterward.
Nally indicated that the time before opening day seemed "tame," and that it had definitely been an improvement over last year.
"Part of that is, I think, because Campus Living and [Community] Development were better at communicating with students prior to their arrival."
Cindy Babington, vice president of student life and dean of students, agreed with this evaluation of the situation. She stated that students registered for early arrival received an email over the summer that denoted the administrations hopes and expectations for these students.
"We were making an effort to say that people come back for a reason, they have a purpose for being here," she said.
However, Babington also admitted that it is impossible for the university to keep correct records indicating which students are on campus.
"Once a fraternity or sorority allows people to move in it's sort of open to anybody," Babington said. "Same thing with our campus houses."
This means that as opening day drew nearer, more and more students arrived on campus, many of whom had no specific reasons for their early arrival.
"We've been open here for a few days before classes start," Nally said, "and if you count that as 'camp college' then that's not good."
In fact, after the official move-in day, alcohol violations skyrocketed. There were three alcohol-related hospital transports as compared to none last year.
"The first alcohol transport last year was on September 9," Nally added.
No specific reasons could be pinpointed for this increase in alcohol related hospital visits. Other infractions, such as stolen items and vandalism, occurred in approximately the same numbers as last year, according to Nally.