Editorial Columns

Binges Burdening Colleges

"The state trooper came at 4:35 a.m. two years ago. I remember seeing my husband scream across the room and not being able to hear him because, I later realized, I was screaming also ... no one should have to go through the agony we have experienced..."

Opening a letter from the mother of a student who died as a result of drinking too much alcohol is one of the most difficult duties of a university president. Having to call a parent or read such a letter is all too common for my colleagues and me.

Different things occupied our time before: handling student protests, debating at faculty meetings or lobbying for more funds.

High-risk drinking, also known as binge drinking, has made our jobs more complicated today, just as it has changed the social lives of the nearly half of the nation's college students who drink excessively. The many evils associated with high-risk drinking are forcing America's colleges and universities to sink enormous resources into countering this devastating problem. To be honest, we'd rather spend these resources on academics -- but the problem is too big to be ignored. Binge drinking has now become a public health hazard of enormous proportions.

Of course, it has changed the lives of the survivors -- the parents and brothers and sisters and friends of those who have died much too young. The friends and families live on, grappling with frustration, wondering if they or anyone else could have done anything differently.

Now my colleagues and I spend time doing TV interviews about binge drinking. We notify parents of their offsprings' roles in alcohol-fueled riots. On those shows, I'd prefer to talk about the important contributions of American higher education; I'd rather talk with parents about their children's latest academic accomplishments.

College and university presidents are not the only ones who have seen their jobs change. Staff across our campuses, along with community leaders, search for answers that do not come too easily.

University ambulance personnel are not just responding to calls about twisted ankles during Frisbee games -- they're responding to calls about unconscious students found alone in the middle of the night.

Student-affairs staff throughout the nation handle tens of thousands of alcohol-related student conduct cases. They provide alcohol counseling and develop alternative programming late at night, hoping to keep students away from binge drinking. Physical plant staff repair and replace furniture and buildings damaged by drunks. University rape counselors assist those who have been sexually assaulted.

Some weekends, local hospital emergency rooms in college and university towns are filled with more students than doctors and nurses. Birthday celebrations for students turning 21 often conclude in the company of strangers at the hospital instead of in the company of friends and family.

"I enclose her senior picture, taken at a time when she was looking toward the future with happy anticipation. She was the youngest of our three children, truly the light of our lives ..."

Last year, dozens of U.S. college students died in alcohol-related incidents. Hundreds more were rushed to emergency rooms and lived thanks to timely medical care. A significant proportion of our students will drop out for reasons related to drinking. And most crime in and around universities is alcohol-related.

More young people are becoming binge drinkers. More and more, they've begun even before they first set foot on campus. They've become experienced drinkers at an age most of us would find shocking.

If you have young people in your family, make sure they understand the implications of their behavior. Teach them about social responsibility and citizenship. Help them understand that almost everyone taken to the ER with an alcohol overdose thought he or she could handle alcohol.

My colleagues and I hope for a day when we don't receive any more letters from mothers and fathers groping in disbelief, trying to understand how they can live the rest of their lives with such deep sorrow.

"We are changed forever, we have made a valiant effort to carry on, but I wonder how I will get through the rest of the days allotted to me. Hearing of efforts made to spare another son or daughter's life are what cheers me now. Good luck in the battle."