I came to Elon in 1988,” Presidential

Task Force on Alcohol co-chair Jeff Clark said. “And on a regular basis we would have funerals for drunk drivers.”

Resulting in a huge blow to the entire Elon community each time, funerals don’t frequent the campus as much anymore, Clark said.

“There has been improvement in sense of that sort of problem,” he said. “Things are better, but that is kind of like breathing. You breathe naturally, but you always aspire for more than that.”

In lieu of this desire and a few past issues which publicized Elon as a heavy drinking school, an administrative committee was formed almost two years ago to help examine data on student drinking patterns. It naturally evolved into the Presidential Task Force last spring, which is composed of faculty, staff and students appointed by President Lambert.

After collaborating for several months the task force has set in motion new initiatives for Elon in education, awareness, alternatives and sanctions to promote the academic climate by reducing alcohol use on campus.

“We want to make sure students really can achieve their full potentials, especially when we see an issue that is a problem,” Clark said. “We don’t want to be seen as sanction heavy; if that is what people think they need to realize there is a lot more under that.”

EDUCATION AND AWARENESS

All students received a letter from Student Life in late July which explained the logic and changes within the system. Smith Jackson, another Presidential Task Force on Alcohol co-chair, said the changes were instated to help integrate and elevate strategies across campus to shift the culture away from being so alcohol prominent in campus life.

“The behavior of a few people and some incidents that happen overtime can really impact total campus climate,” he said. “This is that serious. We don’t want to overreact; we do need to reinforce expectations, however. It all goes back to how do you become a healthier, more engaging campus?”

Lauren Martin, coordinator for substance education in division of student life, said the new initiatives focus on lowering high-risk drinking for freshman so it will be a habit they will continue throughout their time here.

While incoming freshmen and transfer students were required to complete College Alc, a set of online alcohol education lessons, prior to their arrival, Martin said not all of the new alcohol education comes in forms that we traditionally think of.

This includes integrating alcohol education in various classes on campus.

“For example, in a biology class you can learn about how alcohol is metabolized in the body and impacts different systems, or in Spanish have an assignment to differentiate alcohol use in America and other countries,” she said.

She is also working with students to head up the 0-1-3 campaign, which promotes responsible choices around alcohol with zero drinks for underage students, one drink per hour for of-age students and no more than three drinks per night.

“First year students will get cups with the message on it and posters will be made up with the 0-1-3 message on it, and we’re working on getting it on our web site,” Martin said. “We’re trying to get it anywhere and everywhere we can.”

She also said that during Aug. 28-30 the office of judicial affairs, Elon police, campus police and students will visit various off campus complexes and do a party smart initiative to introduce new town ordinances and reinforce responsible choices and safety tips.

While Martin and Jackson agreed the old alcohol position statement was ambiguous and unclear, they hope the revised statement will illuminate the choice of low- or no-drinking.

“We’re hoping that first year students will see that Elon is sending a clear message about alcohol use and that we’re taking high risk drinking very seriously and that it has a negative impact on academics,” she said. “If you want to do well at school, socially and personally, high-risk drinking is not the way to do well in all those things.”

ALTERNATIVES AND SANCTIONS

While drastic problems may root from a small group of individuals across campus, the task force wanted to make it clear that they fully support students who choose not to drink and provide alternative choices.

Though the final report is not due until winter, Jackson said there are many ideas floating around that would provide more options, but that none have been official mandated yet. Some ideas include creating a peer mentor program, renovating existing campus spaces to accommodate drug-free interaction, providing more shuttles, stepping up Chaplain leadership and counseling, having faculty and staff visit residence halls to grow more personal relationships, registering parties off campus, possibly establishing a junior year housing requirement and installing more first semester and Friday classes for younger students.

“We care about our student’s success in all different ways and we’re never going to come up with the perfect way of [dealing with the issue of alcohol] forever,” Clark said. “This is one of those things where we’re going to have to come back and reexamine it every couple years.”

However, thanks to a federal, two-year $236,000 grant that was recently approved, the task force’s efforts were propelled in a good way, Jackson said.

It has enabled the web-based alcohol education programs (College Alc and E-Chug, a program that is used to educate repeat offenders), and double the funds of low-risk grants, which give money to student events on campus that are drug-free interactions.

The task force has also implemented more in-depth counseling, assessment and intervention, created tighter relationships with in- and out-patient facilities in the surrounding community and has unified academic and social honor codes for this semester.

“What we really want to do is engage students more around these topics,” Jackson said. “We’re going to provide feedback, more program and opportunities.”

While there are high hopes for the coming semesters, Jackson acknowledged the reputation of drinking and said sterner sanctions were placed to protect academic integrity.

For the fall semester, parental notification, preliminary suspension, and claiming responsibility are key changes that will be in full effect, he said. [See sidebar for more information].

“We’re not out looking, trying to catch students doing these things,” Jackson said. “We are holding them accountable to make for a better, healthier environment.”

The addition of a new innocent by-stander rule which replaces the old accessory clause leaves some students, like freshman William James, feeling like the new policy is fair.

“I didn’t like the fact that the first few offenses caused financial hardships and possibly family relations, but I understand the reasoning; hard punishments in the beginning is a great way to deter kids initially,” he said. “It was about time colleges started cracking down. I just wish it wasn’t my freshman year.”

Other students, like freshman Jo Beth Stoddard, think the changes may be derived from a high-risk drinking special local TV network WFMY News 2 released Feb. 28.

“I think that maybe blew up the whole situation,” she said. “I haven’t heard of any real problems with Elon’s drinking besides that one TV special…but what college doesn’t have underage drinking?”

While Jackson realizes the alternatives and sanctions may not always be the most popular things, he said he thinks the changes will be embraced more positively than negatively on campus.

“It’s all about what you do in and out of class, on and off campus, while studying abroad…we want you to be proud of your fellow students and for them to be able to count on you to make good choices and do the right thing,” Jackson said. “We are trying to reduce, not eliminate, alcohol, and in my mind these changes are kind of clarifying expectations and saying the university does not condone underage drinking or other unhealthy forms of behavior.”

If anyone is interested in participating in peer education, please contact Laura Martin at 278-7285.

Special Features Editor: Andie Diemer - 08/24/07