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Changing a campus culture
Those points were among the highlights of a presentation in which UD’s Building Responsibility Coalition (BRC), a campus/community partnership that advocates policies for the responsible and legal use of alcohol, summarized alcohol-related initiatives implemented since 1996. In that year, the University received a $700,000 grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to take a leadership role in national efforts to reduce high-risk drinking among students. The grant was extended for four additional years in 2001 and now will conclude in August. John Bishop, UD associate vice president for counseling and student development, and Tracy Downs, the BRC program director, made the presentation in early March, during the annual “A Matter of Degree” meeting in Tucson, Ariz. Attending that meeting were representatives from the eight other institutions that also received Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grants: Lehigh and Florida State universities; the universities of Iowa, Nebraska, Vermont, Wisconsin and Colorado; and the Georgia Institute of Technology. Along with UD, the foundation’s grants to Lehigh and Vermont also end this year. “Those of us whose grant periods are ending had the opportunity to present our successes, challenges and lessons learned,” Downs said. “All of us find that it’s very helpful to hear from our counterparts at other schools and share our experiences.” She and Bishop said they particularly emphasized to their colleagues the importance of having support from the top for any changes being instituted. In the case of UD, they said, President David P. Roselle took a strong stand in 1996, when the national problems of irresponsible drinking by college students were gaining increased attention from medical and other experts. Bishop said public attention became focused on the issue after a 1993 report from the Harvard School of Public Health found that 44 percent of all students nationwide were binge drinkers. A binge drinker is defined as someone who consumes multiple drinks (five for men, four for women) at a single sitting. Bishop has called that report “the clarion call” for increased attention to the problem. Binge drinking in the Northeast, including UD, was even higher than the national average, he said. “Dr. Roselle made the decision that we were going to confront these issues,” Bishop said. “From the beginning, we had very strong support from him. We were the first college in the country to notify parents [of alcohol violations by their children], and I think that was an early sign of how much support the administration was willing to give this.” Roselle noted that the parental notification policy and other UD initiatives have since been implemented by many other universities. “The fact is that the good work of our colleagues associated with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant has established the University of Delaware as a national leader,” he said. Among the improvements that have occurred, he said, have been a reduction in vandalism, a rise in student awareness of alcohol-related health risks and an increase in the number of students who want to continue living in campus residence halls. Capt. James Flatley, the University’s interim public safety director, said the policy calling for parental notification in particular has made a noticeable difference. “I think getting parents involved has been an excellent change, and it’s made enforcement easier,” he said. In addition to UD’s decision to notify parents of alcohol violations, other policy changes made on campus included a “three strikes and you’re out” rule in which a third alcohol violation during a student’s career results in a one-year suspension from the University. Policies also have been changed to strictly enforce a rule requiring tailgating at Delaware Stadium to stop when the football game begins and to prevent fans from re-entering the stadium if they leave during a game. And, rules regarding residence halls and Greek organizations have been changed to discourage high-risk alcohol use. Downs said the coalition quickly learned that it was important to change the rules and environment on campus before seeking policy changes in the community. “We found that you need to change the campus culture and campus policies first—to clean up our own back yard—before dealing with policies and practices in the community, which is where the alcohol is supplied,” she said. Underlying all the BRC’s and the University’s efforts has been a decision to consider the entire issue of high-risk drinking as a matter of public health and safety and to take what Downs called “a harm-reduction approach” in addressing it. “Once we defined the problem as a public-health issue, that led to questions about what policies have led to this growing problem,” Bishop said. “And, over the years, the public-health research from Harvard and elsewhere has backed up our efforts to make policy changes.” The 1993 Harvard study, for example, described “the four V’s” of binge drinking—violence, vandalism, vomit and victims—and their effects on nondrinkers as well as drinkers. Bishop said many students interviewed by the researchers reported being victimized by a fellow student abusing alcohol. “That doesn’t mean they were all assaulted,” he said. “Sometimes, it meant that their sleep was disturbed or they had to baby-sit a drunken roommate or clean up vomit. Most U.S. college students reported having those experiences.” Efforts by the BRC also have led to policy changes in the larger Newark community. Those initiatives included restricting happy hours and reduced-price drink specials, prohibiting open containers of alcohol in vehicles, increased enforcement by Newark Police officers and the formation of the Mayor’s Alcohol Commission to provide direction to city legislators. The BRC also purchased scanners for city police to use in detecting fake ID’s. “I think the BRC efforts have resulted in more policy changes than at the other schools in the group,” Bishop said. “The difference here is that the elected officials in the city of Newark have been very cooperative. They’ve listened to what we’ve had to say, and they’ve been receptive to much of it.” Downs agreed, saying many of the positive results the coalition has achieved are “a tribute to the cooperation and communication we’ve enjoyed in the local community.” The coalition also has worked to change students’ attitudes about excessive drinking through education. Incoming students and their parents are given information about the University’s alcohol policies and enforcement, and T-shirts, posters, magnets and other informational materials have been widely distributed around campus. Many feature clever themes and formats, such as the “Top 10 Reasons Not to Get Drunk” magnets that were distributed in the fall of two academic years, and a series of posters contrasting negative effects of alcohol abuse with more constructive alternatives. Another coalition program, the all-student group Alternative Campus Events, helps plan and fund alcohol-free activities. And, Downs said, efforts to change students’ way of looking at drinking reach out to those living off campus as well as in the residence halls. A recent campaign by the BRC and the University’s Office of Public Relations, called “UDo Live Here,” encouraged students living off-campus to be good neighbors. The coalition also distributed guides on safe and responsible parties, as well as summaries of local alcohol laws, to apartments and neighborhoods, and landlords now are notified when their tenants are arrested for loud or disorderly activities. In summarizing the coalition’s efforts at the national meeting in March, Bishop and Downs highlighted successes of the past nine years. They included:
All these changes “have made enforcement easier for our officers,” Newark Police Capt. William Nefosky said. The BRC’s Policy and Enforcement Task Group, of which Nefosky is a member, also has provided a welcome forum to improve communication among police, UD administrators, students, city residents and local businesses, he said. “I’m sure we’re always going to have an alcohol problem to some extent in Newark, but I do think there seems to be an increase in students’ awareness of the problems excessive drinking can cause,” he said. “I’m optimistic that both the University and the city are going to remain very involved in addressing this issue.” Flatley, who also is a member of the Policy and Enforcement Task Group, agreed that students seem more conscious of the consequences of irresponsible drinking. He attributed that awareness to the coalition’s educational efforts. “Because of the increased education, I think students are more aware of the risks involved with alcohol,” Flatley said. “They realize there are real reasons to be concerned—the possibility of becoming a crime victim, for example—and that this isn’t just a case of adults trying to tell them what to do.” With the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant ending, Bishop said, some administrative changes will be made, but the efforts to reduce high-risk drinking will continue. Downs will continue focusing on alcohol education and related programs, with her position becoming part of Wellspring, the University’s health education, outreach and counseling program. “Because we’ve focused on policy changes, those changes are institutionalized now, and they certainly won’t revert to the way they were before,” Bishop said. He said he believes UD’s reputation a decade ago as a “party school” has been greatly reduced, as students have come to recognize the much stricter alcohol controls now in effect. “The policy changes have been institutionalized, and so have the educational efforts we make, so I’m confident all those will continue, along with the cooperation of the community,” Downs said. “But, it’s a constant battle, especially when you consider how many kids are drinking in high school.” Bishop agreed, noting that alcohol remains a significant problem for virtually every university. “We’ve had a lot of successes here, but we were never expecting a quick fix,” he said. “We’re in this for the long haul.” The end of the grant “most assuredly does not mean the end of the efforts to require responsible behavior,” Roselle said. “Such behavior determines much about the quality of campus life and, in extreme cases, life itself. The University will continue to accept its obligations related to such issues, and we are grateful to our friends at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for having helped us provide an improved campus atmosphere.” Article by Ann Manser To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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