The community assistant internship program is a growing service that gives both on and off-campus students information about the rights they have as well as information on conduct violations. Last year, Tamara Kenney, the assistant dean of students for student conduct and community standards, and Wendi Kinney, assistant dean of students for fraternal life and off-campus services, brought the community assistant program from SUNY Delhi to Geneseo.
There are two sectors of the program that aim to bring the community together, one focusing on the education of town issues and the other on conduct violation problems.
Kenney has been working with seniors Alexandra Rockwood and Olivia Lewis to educate students on the dangers of using fraudulent identification.
“It will be a lot more effective for students to hear the information from their peers as opposed to someone like me,” Kenney said.
According to Kenney, their sector of the program aims not only to lower the number of fake ID tickets but also to find out “the reason as to why people are using false identification … is it really to buy alcohol? Is it to get into the bar? Usually we don't see students using fake IDs to buy kegs, so is it just to be able to socialize with friends?”
Rockwood and Lewis are working on programs that will help educate the student body including a survey to help understand why fake IDs are being used so that they can focus in on how to lower use.
Kenney said she hopes to educate students on the serious repercussions of getting a ticket for a fake ID. She received an email containing the story about a man who got a substantial job in Washington, D.C., but was terminated before his first day due to the use of a fake ID during his college years.
“He was seen as fraudulent, unethical…even though it was just a college mistake,” Kenney said.
Kinney leads the sector about educating off-campus students on town issues. The program gives these students a resource to utilize if an incident occurs and they do not know how to react, such as having a leaky pipe or having the police come to their residence.
The program has a Geneseo Opportunities for Leadership Development workshop series titled “Living in the Real World” throughout the year that aims at further informing students on different aspects of living off-campus in Geneseo. The interns are currently planning events to spread awareness, such as a town carnival.