Committee evaluates drug use on campus

Sarah Palermo Staff Writer

The rumor mill has been buzzing on overtime lately, and not about who hooked up with whom last weekend. When the news got around last spring that the College Athletic Department would begin developing and implementing a drug-testing policy, the rumors flew faster than the gossip server could handle. To address the concerns so many people were voicing, the College formed the Drug Testing Policy and Procedure Committee.

Because the new policy would directly affect student-athletes, they were “consciously given the most representation” on the committee, says Head Athletic Trainer Jeff Carter. There are three student members, Sarah Combs ’05 of the women’s soccer team, Emily Learner ’05 of the field hockey and lacrosse teams as well as SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee), and Kirsten Naito ’05 of the women’s rugby team and SAM (Student Athlete Mentors).

The Committee is further comprised of Carter, Athletic Director Sharon Beverly, volleyball coach Jonathan Penn, Associate Dean of the College Ray Parker and Michelle Soucy of Health Education, who represents D.B. Brown’s office.

Combs described the Committee’s meetings as “open forums where anyone on the Committee could put ideas forth, and the students play a very important role.” The administrators respect the important role that they play as student athlete representatives, as they are the only way the concerns of the students can be addressed.

In his two years working at the College, Carter says that he has encountered only “a handful” of student athletes whom the staff has suspected were using performance enhancing drugs. Because many performance enhancing drugs have “long term consequences, and may even cause death,” the possibility that even a few student athletes are using is a serious concern. But Learner stresses that the new policy isn’t being instituted to “catch people who are using.” Maintaining the health and safety of student-athletes was one of the primary reasons the Committee was formed.

The same concerns have led the National Collegiate Athletic Association to begin testing athletes as well, although mostly in Division One. Division Two and Three teams, however, have been tested recently in the higher levels of competition, such as playoffs and championships. As Vassar’s varsity teams become increasingly competitive, they will encounter testing more and more. Men’s and women’s rugby, although technically considered club sports, will also be tested.

The College testing will occur at the beginning of the athletic seasons, regardless of individual teams’ playoff possibilities. Placing the focus on the entire season and not just testing teams who are going to the higher levels of competition “shows other schools and our athletes that Vassar is serious about competition, and protects the integrity of the sport,” said Combs.

Just as the Committee values the opinion of student-athletes in the construction of the policy, Carter expects to provide opportunities for students to review the policy and comment on it before it is implemented. Equally important is the inclusion in the policy of a form of recourse for students who obtain a positive result from the testing. While the details are not yet settled, Carter foresees the formation of an Appeals Committee made of non-athletic staff, such as professors and administrators. The student will most likely be allowed to address the Committee and will quickly receive a ruling.

Many aspects of the policy are yet to be firmly decided, because the Committee was only formed this fall. They are still working on drafting the official policies and procedures for the drug testing, which Carter describes as a “long and exhausting process.” The policy must be in accordance with the NCAA’s guidelines for testing within schools, and will be inspected by several College administrators and lawyers even before it is available for the student body’s perusal.

So in the interest of familiarizing everyone with the policy, the testing will not begin this academic year. There are no specific deadlines in mind, but Carter hopes that the policy is available for the student-athletes to read and discuss before the end of the year.