Madelin Ryan, Campus Carrier Staff Writer

Bikel Stodghill, a junior Creative Technology major, planned to spend her Saturday hiking to the reservoir with some friends. 

Stodghill recently turned 21 and never thought she would be the kind to black out from drinking, but had a tough start to the semester and hadn’t eaten much that day. 

On September 16, 2017 around 5:30p.m., the Berry College Police Department received a call about a female student who was unresponsive at the reservoir.

“Yes, I did drink on campus,” Stodghill said. “About a quarter of a little bottle of Tennessee Honey and a few shots of another drink, but I don’t know what proof it was.”

Stodghill doesn’t remember much because she blacked out about thirty minutes after getting to the reservoir.

“I felt like I had a pretty good idea where I was at, but all I remember is I was about to ‘fall into the res.’ and then I woke up in the hospital,” Stodghill said. 

The incident report states, “Stodghill had vomited all over [another male student] and there was a very strong odor of an alcoholic beverage coming from her person.”

When Berry patrol officer Jeremy Clay arrived on scene, a nurse, who was hiking with her family, was holding Stodghill’s head up. The nurse said the student was with a few of her friends hiking on the trail when she started vomiting. 

One of the male friends she met that day stayed behind with her while her friends walked back to get the car.

Because the student was unresponsive, Clay did a sternum rub, using turning pressure to create a painful stimulus to test for consciousness. Shortly after that, the ambulance arrived on scene. 

“They didn’t let [the male student] ride in the ambulance with me, and they didn’t even tell him where they were taking me,” Stodghill said. “They were just like, ‘well good job, you,’ and then they took me away in the ambulance.”

Four hours later, Stodghill woke up in the hospital. Lindsey Norman, head of Residence Life, visited her to talk about what happened and potential consequences of drinking on campus. 

Once the hospital released Stodghill, Sergeant Jeff Smith of the Berry College Police Department drove her back to her dorm.

“It was the first time I was happy to see a campus cop,” Stodghill said.

Clay said that getting calls from the reservoir is a common occurrence.

“It’s about the norm, but I think there’s been a little bit more swimming going on up there this year,” Clay said. 

Stodghill will have an administrative hearing with Lindsey Norman to decide her consequences.

“I guess I thought alcohol was way more benign than it was,” Stodghill said. “Things can fly south so quickly, so make sure to take care of yourself and the people around you. Make sure you are drinking for the right reasons.”