I can connect to a server and channels alright, but when I try to get a dcc send then I get disconnected from whatever server I am trying to get the send on.

Are you, by any chance, running a Linksys wireless router? If so, upgrade the firmware.

I don't have a router hooked up and it will do the same thing if I turn my firewall off before start irc up. I am at a college, but someone from it said they aren't blocking any ports.

Can you download files in general? Can anyone else at the school download files in IRC? There's something going on - the trick is to find something in common, to figure out what that something is.

Yes, I can download files with other things like http, ftp, and etc. The same thing happens on someone else computer on campus.

Then it's obvious that, intentionally or not, the school's system is blocking dcc receive. If they want to solve the problem, work with their IT people (you know more about how to initiate a dcc receive than they do). If they don't want to solve it, you're out of luck while at school unless you get your own internet connection.