Annual security report reflects potential errors in drug violations

By Cal Sutton

Rider officials said the university inaccurately reported campus drug violations in 2024, 18 days after publicly releasing the flawed numbers in a federally-required report showing a tremendous spike in infractions from zero in the previous two years.

In the Oct. 3 document, the university reported a notable surge in drug violations, with an uptick of 47 disciplinary actions and judicial referrals in 2024. The data strictly represents marijuana instances, Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Community Standards Keith Kemo said, and should not have been reported under the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act as part of the university’s 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. 

In an email to The Rider News on Oct. 21, Vice President for Student Affairs Nick Barbati said, “I can confirm that there were errors in the posted report in the section regarding Referrals for Disciplinary Actions for Drugs. We are actively working with Public Safety to have the accurate numbers reposted and shared.”

According to Dean of Students Christine Mehlhorn, the error was caused when the university submitted numbers which include marijuana-related violations. She said marijuana violations should not have been part of the annual report, because drug reports are based on state laws.

A critical error 

Since marijuana’s decriminalization in New Jersey in February 2021, Rider is no longer required to report marijuana as drug violations in its annual security reports under the Clery Act, according to Mehlhorn.

“Clery is federal, but when it comes to drug reporting, you use state and local guidelines,” Mehlhorn said in an Oct. 21 interview with The Rider News.

According to Mehlhorn, the numbers reported were on-campus drug violations under the Student Code of Conduct and not the Clery Act. She said a correction will be sent out to the university with an updated number that should look more consistent once the numbers are assessed by a Clery consultant alongside university officials.

“The wrong chart was sent [to the Department of Education] and it was an issue that was identified,” Mehlhorn said. “We’re working with Clery to look at what we need to do to say we sent you the wrong chart.” 

Mehlhorn said she was unable to share the correct number of drug violations with The Rider News.

As of the evening of Oct. 21, the report containing the errors was still publicly available on Rider’s official website.

Mehlhorn said, “So while we obviously track, you know, conduct violations, and we did see a slight increase of … drug-related conduct violations on campus when it comes to Clery reportable violations, we’re gonna see a number very consistent with the number of drug violations in years past.”

According to the report released on Oct. 3 by Director of Public Safety Matthew Babcock, as part of the university’s federally-mandated disclosure of crime statistics, a total of 47 on-campus drug violations were reported in 2024, 38 of which took place in residence halls. Along with the 47 violations resulting in on-campus disciplinary action, there was one drug-related arrest in 2024, according to the university’s report.

These numbers show a huge leap from 2022 and 2023, years in which the university reported zero drug violations or arrests.

Initially, both Babcock and Vice President of University Operations Mike Reca declined to be interviewed about the spike in drug violations reported by Rider. When pressed for information, Babcock followed up with The Rider News in an Oct. 20 email, stating that the drug violation figures in the report may have been incorrect.

He wrote, “We are reevaluating the numbers and working on a Clery consultant for assistance. This appears to be an error that we are working to correct. Unfortunately, this will take some time, with an unknown time frame.”

Reca, who oversees Public Safety, said in an Oct. 19 email to The Rider News, “At this time, I cannot provide any information.”

Section five of Rider’s Student Code of Social Conduct, which outlines rules about “Health/Drugs and Abuse,” states that students may not sell, make, possess or misuse drugs or related paraphernalia.

Noted at the end of section 5.2 of the Student Code of Social Conduct, while marijuana is both recreationally and medically legal in New Jersey, federal law prohibits such use on campus.

Colleges and universities must adhere to federal standards, making marijuana use and possession on

university grounds a violation of the code of social conduct.

Kemo said, “Sometimes there’s this misconception, ‘[In] New Jersey, [marijuana] was decriminalized … I can do whatever I want,’ but New Jersey colleges and universities are the same … in terms of federal law.”

A sophomore who received a disciplinary referral for a drug violation on campus related to marijuana, spoke to The Rider News about their experience with the referral process. They requested anonymity to protect their identity.

“[The fire marshall] found [rolled up joints, 50-milliliter bottles of alcohol and lighters] during my room check,” they said, and showed The Rider News written records from their disciplinary referral for verification.

The student was found responsible violating four different sections of the Student Code of Social Conduct: “Reckless Endangerment,” “Fire Safety Violations/Fire Hazard,” “Unauthorized Possession/Use of Harmful/Illegal Substances” and “Possession of Paraphernalia Intended for Use w/ Illegal Drugs.”

Since it was the student’s first violation, they met with Assistant Director of Residence Life Julia Cardinal. The student could either agree to do community service, attend a drug education course and pay a $100 fine or appeal the violation.

The student accepted the penalty, and said they chose not to appeal even though a successful appeal will take the disciplinary infraction off their record, because if the appeal was unsuccessful, they could have been at risk of expulsion from the university.

Marijuana incidents across universities 

Illicit drug use has become increasingly common among college students and the general underaged population in the U.S.

According to a 2025 study conducted at the University of Michigan which surveyed over 84,000 students across the U.S., more than 20% of college students had used some type of illicit drug in the past 30 days at the time of response.

The most common drug, with 20% of participants disclosing past-month use, was marijuana.

While Rider officials reassess the statistics they issued in the 2024 annual report, weekly Public Safety reports indicate officers regularly investigate odors of marijuana from Rider residence halls.

Mehlhorn said, “I would imagine we’re on trend with other colleges and universities in the area who are reporting zero or one drug violations on campus. That’s not to say students aren’t using marijuana or other, you know, drugs on campus.”

Similarly, nearby The College of New Jersey reports frequent disciplinary referrals for illegal drugs, shown by the university’s Annual Security and Fire Safety Report. According to TCNJ’s Campus Police, only marijuana that exceeds 28 grams is reported in their annual security reports.

While TCNJ has 7,400 undergraduate students, according to the school’s website, — more than double the amount of undergraduate students than Rider — TCNJ reported 64 drug disciplinary actions in 2024 with zero arrests, whereas Rider had 47 disciplinary actions and one arrest, according to the current report administrators now say is inaccurate. 

Mehlhorn explained that Rider’s incorrect drug violation figures did not accurately reflect the university’s drug enforcement. She said, “Everything was being enforced the same way. If this error hadn’t been made, you’ll see that the numbers would have remained consistent.”

According to Kemo, Rider does mini awareness campaigns with flyers in residence halls and Greek housing which explain the policies around drugs and consequences of violations.

Every year, new Rider students are required to complete an online course about the risks of alcohol, cannabis and other issues that are prevalent on college campuses.

According to Mehlhorn, the Counseling Center and Health Center both table at larger-scale events around campus throughout the year with the goal to spread awareness about a variety of topics, including drug and alcohol education and awareness.

While the university works to report the correct number of drug violations, Mehlhorn said, “It’s just an error. . . [The Rider News’ inquiry on the drug violation figures] gave us a pause to take a look at what happened, so were we wrong in one year or the next? And it turns out that we were wrong.”