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Since the inception of American higher education in the 17th century, campus officials have stood in loco parentis and have enjoyed wide latitude to control the lives of students outside the classroom. College faculty and administrators under in loco parentis benefited from legal immunity in nearly all aspects of how they ran their institutions, especially in regard to controlling out of class activities and student behavior. The legal principles used to ensure student safety on the college campus continues to evolve during the early 21st century. Today, establishing the appropriate level of legal responsibility that a university has to protect students from foreseeable injury remains unclear. Understanding these responsibilities is vital for higher education institutions, as students continue to injure themselves after consuming high-levels of alcohol. Although not a call to return to in loco parentis, the data from this study suggests that university officials might consider adopting additional measures that enforce underage and high-risk drinking policies in on-campus living environments with high-concentrations of underage residents.

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Dr. Matthew R. Caires currently serves as Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, Wyoming. He works daily with traditionally-aged undergraduate students and issues that influence their development as adults, especially their responsible consumption of alcohol. He is an avid mountain biker and back-country skier.

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