To many stu­dents, drink­ing seems to be a rite of pas­sage in col­lege life. In many cir­cles, alco­hol use is sim­ply the norm. Yet, nor­mal as it may seem, alco­hol use can carry some very real con­se­quences that many stu­dents may not understand.

A wide known fact is the legal age for drink­ing is 21. Anyone who drinks before this age can be con­victed with a minor in pos­ses­sion charge (MIP), which can result in sev­eral hun­dreds of dol­lars in fines, pro­ba­tion and at max­i­mum even jail time.

“I per­son­ally think stu­dents don’t under­stand the con­se­quences and legal issues sur­round­ing alco­hol con­sump­tion,” Nicole Jablonkski, a first-year phar­macy stu­dent, said. “I under­stand the strict reg­u­la­tion of drink­ing. Many peo­ple who live on cam­pus are underage.”

Many peo­ple assume that once they hit the age of 21, they can’t get in trou­ble for drink­ing any more so long as they don’t drive. This is not accu­rate. For every minor who drinks there is some­one who pro­vided the alco­hol, and they can get into even more trou­ble for fur­nish­ing alco­hol to minors. Even being intox­i­cated in pub­lic is both against the law and Ferris’ pol­icy for stu­dent con­duct on campus.

Furnishing alco­hol to minors is a seri­ous offense in the state of Michigan and is a mis­de­meanor, which can carry a max­i­mum penalty of 60 days in jail and a $1,000 fine per minor. If a stu­dent has a party at another individual’s place and the police show up, they can face a charge for every minor at the party that has con­sumed alcohol.

Many stu­dents don’t seem to be aware, or at least mind­ful, of the con­se­quences sur­round­ing alcohol.

“The school has to keep a pro­fes­sional rep­u­ta­tion,” Brett Bieth, a sopho­more in health care sys­tems admin­is­tra­tion, said. “Punishments are both extreme and unknown to the stu­dent pop­u­la­tion. An alco­hol con­vic­tion can jeop­ar­dize your pro­fes­sional career; they really should tell you about that.”

If busted for drink­ing, stu­dents often will go through both the Office of Student Conduct and the court sys­tem of Big Rapids.

“Until you get caught, you don’t really know what the pun­ish­ment is for drink­ing,” Tim Burke, a sopho­more in hotel and food indus­try man­age­ment, said. “Fines from the court can be really expensive.”