Late-night drinking in an increasingly dangerous city led Pepperdine to institute an unprecedented 1 a.m. curfew on students in the Florence International Program according to Charles Hall dean of International Programs.
The policy which began Sunday Feb. 8 requires students to be in the program’s villa by 1 a.m. Sunday through Thursday although exceptions will be granted for travel and other events on a case-by-case basis.
Hall said he does not plan to extend the curfew to other international programs or to future semesters in Florence. However he will discuss the curfew with the directors of each program at their annual meeting in April.
“Our first instinct will always be to see if we can deal with the problem without implementing broad-based policies he said. If a large group of students do something that’s putting them at risk and other students at risk it’s only then that we’ll consider implementing certain policies like a curfew.”
Some students in Florence deny that they endanger themselves or others.
“Safety is very important and the gentlemen of the group’s actions reflect that said sophomore Chris Athens, who said he chose the Florence program partly because of its reputation for academics and responsibility. If it’s 12:30 and a girl is tired because she’s walked 20 minutes in heels even if I don’t want to go home I’ll go back with her. I don’t feel like any girl has ever felt in danger.”
However the consensus from longtime professors and Pepperdine employees familiar with Florence is that the city has grown more dangerous.
“If you went to ask any of the local Italians they’ll tell you that Florence has changed in the last four years said Elizabeth Whatley, who has been program director for 10 years.
Whatley said she has favored a curfew since summer of 2004.
I don’t want to sound racist but the immigrants in town have changed the culture she said.
As evidence of the danger to students, Whatley said an American student in Florence was assaulted sometime after 2 a.m. two weeks ago. She escaped after defending herself with pepper spray.
Despite the actions of some, Whatley said this year’s group is full of great students.
These are potential leaders on campus and shouldn’t have any kind of bad label on them she said. It’s a typical Florentine group. This group has not drunk any more than any other group.”
However problems have haunted the group since the beginning of the fall semester.
A student went to the hospital after an incident near the end of the semester and several times a small minority of students kept drinking in the center of town until 4 or 5 a.m.
Whatley bought in-house entertainment like Guitar Hero to encourage students to spend the late night inside but the behavior continued Hall said.
After several phone calls from concerned parents Whatley grew increasingly concerned.
“She said ‘Charles I hope we don’t wait too long to do something about it and end up with a late-night rape'” according to Hall. “I said I’d rather be safe than sorry.”
Hall then decided to implement a curfew.
He informed Whatley of the decision on Tuesday Feb. 3 between 4:30 and 5:30 p.m. Several hours later in an e-mail he told students a curfew would go into place the following week.
“Coming from the dean of International Programs [the e-mail] communicated that we’re serious about the issues Hall said. It would also imply to the students that this was not something that the local director decided but that it was by Malibu.”
Sophomore Ben Van Horn said students were offended by how the news was delivered.
“I think the biggest sentiment in the house was that it was done in a patronizing manner he said. We got an e-mail at 11 at night saying by the way you’re on curfew.”
Van Horn wrote a five-page petition protesting the curfew which 14 students signed by the next morning.
“Evidence such as GPA or class attendance has obviously not been considered when making claims against us for both statistics would point to what constitutes a collection of ‘responsible decisions’ and our apparent competence in making them Van Horn wrote. (Class attendance is mandatory in all international programs.)
Although he said he stands by the contents of the original petition, Vanhorn said that because he wrote it in the heat of the moment it was not the best method of persuasion.
To my discredit it sounds a little bit militant he said. I’ve since written a personal e-mail to Dr. Hall in a little bit more censored way shall we say.”
Other students wrote separately to Hall including sophomore James Conole the resident advisor.
“It is only when we consciously choose not to go out because we have an assignment due the next day that we realize growing up requires sacrifices and responsible decision making wrote Conole in his e-mail to Hall.
He also said enforcing the curfew would be difficult logistically.
Hall deferred to Whatley on implementing the policy, but emphasized that punishment was not the goal.
The decision to impose a curfew on the Florence program was a decision based exclusively on what I felt was an issue of the safety and well-being of our students he wrote. Let me be clear: the majority of the Florence students were acting responsibly and making good decisions. This is what was so disappointing about having to make this decision.”
The curfew also troubled junior Omid Heidari who served as resident advisor in Florence his sophomore year.
“I know that this is a last resort which speaks volumes to the situation Heidari said. It’s hard to appreciate people like Michelangelo in a completely drunken stupor.”
Another former Florence student opposed the curfew.
“It greatly restricts students’ opportunities to see the city and experience the culture said junior Paul Martins. Some of the best conversations I ever had were past 1 a.m.”
Hall said he understood that Florence culture tends to start later – many restaurants open at 8 p.m. and clubs become lively at midnight – or he would have set the curfew even earlier.
Students who violate the curfew will be put on probation. If already on probation they will be dismissed from the program.