The university's medical amnesty policy should encourage students to seek medical attention for their friends, officials said.
CAMDEN -- Rutgers University students who dial 911 for a medical emergency won't be punished by the university if they have been underage drinking, according to a new policy passed Friday.
The university's Board of Governors adopted a medial amnesty policy after a push from students leaders, saying it reflects a practice Rutgers already follows in most instances.
The goal is to encourage students to take care of one another rather than jeopardizing another student's safety over fear of university discipline, said Barbara Lee, the university's senior vice president for academic affairs.
"It's a protective strategy to keep our students safe," Lee said
Under the policy, the student who makes the 911 call would need to stay with the student who needs medical attention and cooperate with any university investigation. The policy would not provide amnesty to students who supply alcohol to minors, Lee said.
The policy is similar to those enacted in recent years at colleges nationwide, including The College of New Jersey and Montclair State University. A state law in New Jersey already provides medical amnesty with police for students who have been underage drinking before calling 911 for medical help, Lee said.
The student government at Rutgers began researching a medical amnesty policy after a student died from alcohol poisoning after a fraternity party in September 2014, said Anish Patel, the student representative to the Board of Governors.
The new policy should help improve student safety on a campus where some students are afraid to call for help, Patel said.
He hopes it will help saves lives, he said.
"We need creative solutions," Patel said. "Having medical amnesty is a way to do that. It's way to get students to understand that there is a protection for them, that this is not an entirely punitive and pejorative system."
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