When Students Drink Too Much: Whose Problem Is It Anyway?

Background Information

Today, an overwhelming number of college students drink alcohol either in moderation or excess. They often drink before legally permitted and tend to consume alcohol in high-risk ways. Drinking can often be a part of college culture, where college students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol annually (Weschler & Wuethrich, 2002). According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA, 2015), 60% of college students drink alcohol, and two-thirds of college students who drink report high-risk drinking. Drinking leads to more than 1,800 college student deaths, 690,000 assaults, and almost 100,000 sexual assaults annually (NIAAA, 2015). These statistics are indicative of a very serious problem that college administrators must continue to address.

Many college administrators identify curbing alcohol abuse among students as a priority as well as a challenge. Although some argue in favor of lowering the drinking age to aid colleges in monitoring alcohol consumption and educating students on safe drinking practices, the drinking age law is not likely to change in the near future. The drinking age law poses a binary problem: Either try to ban alcohol and potentially increase off-campus parties or look the other way when underage students consume alcohol while trying to educate them on safe drinking practices (Scrivo, 1998). Many colleges and universities work to curb high-risk drinking but face challenges in determining how to effectively address the problem.

The University of Virginia (UVa), a large public research institution in the Southeast, has a work hard, party hard reputation. Students recognize the wahoo, a tropical fish that can drink twice its own weight, as an unofficial mascot. UVa has had its share of high-risk drinking events over the years, and the administration has worked tirelessly to reduce high-risk drinking and encourage safe drinking practices (Winerip, 1998). However, UVa, like many colleges and universities across the nation, faces one major hurdle: Drinking has become a part of the college culture. Although the university has made progress over the years, the problem of event-specific, high-risk drinking remains.

Case Narrative

Many college students have drinking traditions specific to their school. These events typically involve dangerous practices centered on the consumption of alcohol, which can result in injuries or even death. There are the SIU Polar Bear at Southern Illinois University, the Naked Jump Into Mirror Lake at Ohio State University, the Hampshire Keg Hunt at Hampshire College, and similar events at colleges across the country (Jackson, 2015; Tomar, 2016). At UVa, there is the “fourth-year fifth.” Although the names and locations may be different, these events all share a common element—consuming a dangerously high amount of alcohol in a defined period of time.

The fourth-year fifth is a practice whereby fourth-year students (seniors) attempt to consume a fifth of liquor (750 mL) on the day of the last home football game. This practice dates back to the mid-1980s but was not the focus of the administration until a fourth-year student, Leslie Baltz, died in 1997 following her attempt at completing the fourth-year fifth. Baltz was the fifth college student in two months in Virginia to die following heavy drinking. However, despite the successive tragedies, conversations with students in the weeks following Baltz’s death indicated that many would not change their own drinking behaviors (Scrivo, 1998).

UVa students have made this practice an unofficial tradition, and traditions are especially significant to UVa students. According to one student, “UVa does its fair share of partying. While drinking might not be for everyone here, most of our unofficial school traditions do revolve around alcohol, and what kind of UVa student would you be if you messed with tradition?” (Robertson, 2016). The student goes on to provide a list of drinking “traditions” that all students should complete before graduation to claim to have graduated with the “honors of honor,” and the fourth-year fifth was among them (Robertson, 2016).

Over the past 10 years, multiple baseline studies have consistently shown that approximately 20% of all fourth-year students participate in the fourth-year fifth. Participation levels have remained relatively stable over the years despite significant efforts to reduce participation. Although the overall number of students participating is relatively low, this event is a cause for great concern due to the volume of alcohol participants consume (Foster, 2014).

Interventions

In determining the best course of action for reducing participation in the fourth-year fifth, it is important to consider what research exists on substance abuse prevention. Most important is that fear-based education does not work; students simply do not believe in scare tactics (Winerip, 1998). However, the social norms approach has been proven effective. The social norms approach is designed to educate students on accurate drinking norms and the use of protective behaviors (Haines, 1996). This is often achieved by developing social norms marketing campaigns to provide students with accurate information regarding drinking practices. As students often overestimate those who participate in high-risk drinking practices, marketing the correct data can be successful at changing behaviors (Foster, 2014).

At UVa, social norms marketing programs have been implemented in conjunction with a variety of programs designed to reduce participation in the fourth-year fifth. Every fall, Substance Abuse Awareness Week provides safety education related to the fourth-year fifth and includes programming such as speakers, information sessions, panel discussions, and a bagel breakfast, each with an opportunity for students to sign a pledge not to participate in the fourth-year fifth. The week of events culminates with the fourth-year 5k on the morning of the last home football game (Smith, 2014).

Effect of Interventions

In 1998, the year following Leslie Baltz’s death, the fourth-year 5k was introduced as an alternative to the fourth-year fifth. About 360 students participated in the race that year (Smith, 2014), and the number rose to more than 1,000 in 2015 (Winthrop, 2015). An additional effort started by the senior class president in 1998 encourages students to sign a pledge not to participate in the fourth-year fifth. That year, 750 students signed the pledge. Although the number of students running the 5k has increased over the years, the number of students signing the pledge decreased to just more than 500 students in 2013 (“As Tech Game Looms,” 2013; Sipress, 1998; Smith, 2014).

Other initiatives have been implemented as well. The group “Fourth Years Acting Responsibly,” established in 1999, focused on raising awareness and continuing to urge students to sign the pledge not to participate in the fourth-year fifth (Guest, 2005). In 2003, then President John Casteen

increased alternative programming at the school, created two University-wide alcohol task forces and increased peer health education, formed a permanent alcohol advisory committee, and moved UVA’s Center for Alcohol and Substance Education from the psychiatric medicine department to the Dean of Students’ office. (Guest, 2005)

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team (ADAPT) was created as a peer education group “dedicated to addressing the issues of alcohol and other drug abuse in the University of Virginia community” (UVa, 2016). ADAPT promotes awareness and provides educational outreach to their fellow students with the purpose of minimizing alcohol and substance abuse in the university community (UVa, 2016). The university has implemented other education initiatives as well that are not specific to the fourth-year fifth but are focused on reducing the risk associated with high-risk drinking in other contexts.

UVa has invested a significant amount of resources in an effort to maintain a safe environment for its students. Each year, UVa runs national conferences that address substance abuse in athletic programs, and they teach other universities how to address substance abuse issues in their athletic programs (Winerip, 1998). In fact, UVa was cited as having one of the best campus programs in the country in 1996 (Winerip, 1998). Despite the tremendous success in alcohol abuse prevention programming, the dangers associated with the fourth-year fifth remain.

What We Know

An important goal of substance abuse prevention efforts is to reduce the adverse consequences of drinking. The fourth-year fifth is a celebratory drinking event that, although unique to one university, is similar to drinking events at other campuses. Although there are long-standing healthy traditions to celebrate the last home football game (e.g., the fourth-year 5k race), these events do not appear to resonate with the heavy-drinking student population. Students who attempt the fourth-year fifth are primarily motivated by a sense of tradition and feel a sense of accomplishment afterward. The earlier the students learn about the practice, the more likely they are to attempt it. Thus, anticipation may increase the sense of accomplishment in completing the fourth-year fifth (Foster, 2014).

Although some students may anticipate the event for several years, a large percentage of students actually underestimate the level of participation in the fourth-year fifth. Thus, a social norms campaign to market the low participation rate may not be effective, and publicizing the campus-wide social norm may exaggerate participation rates among the lowest risk groups (Foster, 2014). Although social norms marketing has proven effective in many cases, without a clear misperception to correct, a social norms campaign is not indicated in this case.

Legal Considerations

One question that often accompanies this type of issue is liability of the institution. Specifically, will the institution be liable should something happen? If they failed to protect the students? If they failed to address the problem? Although in loco parentis protected universities from legal interference prior to the 1960s, it did not represent a duty to protect students (Peters, 2007). However, in loco parentis is no longer applied to higher education litigation, which is now determined by tort theory (Blanchard, 2008). One issue that higher education administrators often face is the lack of a coherent legal definition of the college–student relationship. Although students expect safety and colleges owe their students a reasonably safe environment, questions remain about what exactly colleges and universities can and should do to protect students from the danger posed by high-risk drinking (Peters, 2007).

Although high-risk drinking is prevalent among college students, many courts have refused to hold colleges accountable, “maintaining that it would be unrealistic and impossible to prevent college students from abusing alcohol” (Peters, 2007). Even though multiple cases reject students’ negligence claims, there are some cases that do hold colleges liable, and those mixed outcomes can challenge colleges and universities to determine best courses of action (Blanchard, 2008). Although legislative changes can certainly help, it is not appropriate to wait for such help to arrive. In the meantime, there continues a demand for colleges to take more responsibility (Peters, 2007). Even though colleges and universities are not typically held legally responsible, there is a moral obligation to the safety of students.

Conclusion

Many college students drink, and sometimes they drink in high-risk ways. As a college is responsible for providing a relatively safe environment for its students, there is still uncertainty about what the college can and should do to encourage safety among students, particularly as it relates to the consumption of alcohol. Although each institution should take into account its campus and community, a comprehensive approach requires defining the problem and analyzing environmental factors in the campus community that may be contributing to substance abuse (Ross & DeJong, 2009). Once those factors are established, it is necessary to determine how the administration should approach the problem.

Teaching Notes

This case was developed for use in graduate courses in student affairs and higher education administration. It is useful for students to analyze a situation that is common yet so complex that there is no simple answer. This case requires students to consider issues that are not easily addressed nor well understood. The case includes data about high-risk drinking among college students, a specific high-risk drinking event, past efforts to address the problem, as well as the results of those efforts. Students must analyze the case from the student affairs and higher education professional perspective, and also discover the value in approaching challenging issues by assessing the views of all parties involved. Students should be encouraged to analyze the case holistically and not attempt to solve this particular problem. As future student affairs and higher education administrators, students will often be presented with seemingly unsolvable challenges. Students should be encouraged to develop a plan for addressing such challenges.

Although this case addresses one very specific high-risk drinking event at a single university, it represents a problem nationwide. Many colleges and universities face similar problems associated with high-risk drinking events specific to their institution. This case should be approached from multiple perspectives. Each level of analysis should take into consideration aspects of the case relevant to that position.

Discussion Questions

Individual Reflection and Writing Activity

To think critically about this case, students should reflect on the problems posed and determine how to deconstruct this case into manageable parts. Students should write one or more of the following memos:

In-Class Activities

Begin with a general discussion of the case and the details involved. Students should identify and analyze the central problems from various perspectives.