Dear Parent(s):

Welcome to the Luther College community! Every summer, those of us who have the privilege of working with college students look forward to meeting and talking with our new students and their parents. I will meet many of you during the time your daughter or son is at Luther, and I welcome hearing from you about your hopes or concerns for your student. To assist with communication, I encourage you to read our new parent e-newsletter. You can subscribe to it here.

Our community

Luther truly is a community of people who are committed to caring. Faculty and staff are interested not only in how students learn in an academic sense, but how they grow personally, socially, and morally through the learning they do out of the classroom. The Student Life program pays special attention to helping students develop a sense of shared community on campus because we believe this helps them learn to be responsible and caring members of society. In the context of community, we help students discover their “higher calling”—or how their unique gifts will be best used in a future career and in a life of service. Since a hallmark of a Luther College education is its residential nature, we expect students to live in on-campus residence halls all four years. Exceptions are only made for juniors who apply to live off campus their senior year.

Challenges your student may face

Being a caring college community does not mean we deny the serious challenges facing young people today. Luther students will not be immune to larger societal problems such as the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs, violent behavior—including sexual assault—and other crises. Newly found independence and wanting to “try out” new behaviors means first-year college students are most at risk.

Alcohol and drug issues: Luther continues to discuss the most appropriate alcohol policies for our campus. Most of our students are not of legal age, and therefore not allowed to consume or have alcoholic beverages on campus. All residence hall spaces for first-year students are designated as alcohol-free. Nevertheless, Iowa law allows 19 and 20-year-olds to enter bars. That, coupled with lax enforcement by some local establishments, means alcohol is fairly easy for students to obtain. For that reason, I encourage you to talk to your son or daughter about challenges and implications of alcohol use and the negative impact it can have on their lives.

You should also be aware that Iowa has a zero tolerance for blood alcohol content on drivers under the age of 21, and further recognizes a .08 blood alcohol level as the highest legal limit for people of legal age. Students who are charged with operating a vehicle while over that limit can expect to face significant fines and legal sanctions.

On campus, students are subject to disciplinary action for alcohol-related disruptive behaviors. Students are fined and/or asked to perform community service and referred to alcohol education programs. They are also offered support through counseling and/or treatment programs. In most cases, parents can expect to be notified if their son or daughter has a second or third alcohol-related violation so they can join the college in evaluating the situation.

We have also seen an increase in marijuana use and want you to know that illegal drug use will be referred to local police officials immediately. In addition, as one of several disciplinary sanctions on campus, students may be evicted from their residence hall rooms if they are found to be in possession of marijuana or other illegal drugs.

We work hard to discourage the abuse and illegal use of alcohol and drugs through our alcohol and chemical health education program, the encouragement of alcohol-free social and recreational programs, and our Nena Amundson Lifetime Wellness Program, which helps students and employees learn about and practice healthy lifetime habits. I appreciate your partnership in these efforts.

Other challenges: Luther also concentrates on educating students about other issues they might face as they begin the transition to independent adulthood. Educational programming regarding sexual assault, diversity issues, and gender-related topics are examples of topics explored. Luther’s Student Handbook has sections about alcohol, sexual abuse, and harassment issues. I encourage you to review these with your son or daughter. The handbook can be found here.

Health services

Whereas many colleges no longer offer medical assistance on their campuses, Luther provides excellent health services for students. Directed by nurse practitioner JoEllen Anderson, our Health Service is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and from 3-7 p.m. on Sundays. Appointments can be made with a physician during working hours. In addition, Decorah has two excellent private clinics and a very good local hospital and emergency room.

Please check with your health insurance provider now regarding any limitations in services that your student might encounter, especially if Decorah is out of its service area. The college offers a reasonably priced student health insurance policy (described to your student in a summer mailing) if that seems more feasible for your family. It is very important that your student be covered by some form of health insurance.

“Greek”/social organizations

Luther has several chartered groups—“Greek” fraternities and sororities—that are recognized by the college. These groups recruit in late spring and pledge new student members during the fall of their sophomore year. Approximately 10 percent of our students participate in one of these organizations.

However, I want you to be aware that another segment of campus participates in “underground” social groups. These groups are not recognized by the college, do not have use of college facilities and, in general, “do their own thing,” usually off campus. While some of their activities provide social bonding and friendship, we have ongoing concerns with these groups, particularly related to illegal and/or abusive alcohol use, recruitment of first-year students, and our inability to communicate and work productively with them. The most widely known of these groups (all male) are: Theta Chi, Pi Sigma Omicron (Pi Sigs), Iota Eta Pi, Iota Sigma Omicron (ISOs), WIMI, and Rakeop.

Contacting you

Finally, I want to outline our policy regarding contacting parents. Because we believe college students are young adults learning to be responsible for their own lives, we usually work directly with them. It is not our practice to contact parents or guardians unless the sharing of a problem is necessary to protect the student or others from serious harm, or we need your help with a comprehensive plan to deal with problem behavior.

If your daughter or son has serious and/or frequent violations of handbook regulations, or if your student is reluctant to obtain assistance for problem behaviors, we will share this information with you, usually with your student’s knowledge. In the case of medical emergencies, parents will be contacted with or without the student’s knowledge.

In closing, let me say that every year I struggle with this letter because it focuses on many of the challenges and difficulties today’s college students face. I believe it is important to bring up these topics, but I also believe there are many wonderful experiences ahead for your daughter or son. The coming years will be great ones and we hope you and your student will soon feel a part of the strong, vibrant community of faith and learning at Luther College.

Sincerely,

Ann Highum, Ph.D.

Vice President and Dean for Student Life
highuman@luther.edu