Minnesota State University is in a state of mourning after three recent, tragic student deaths. One tragedy, caused by alcohol poisoning, has placed the university at the center of a debate over binge drinking. Alcohol’s role in a second death is being investigated.
As president of MSU, I want everyone to know that as a community we care deeply about our students and are troubled that alcohol is becoming an increasingly dominant force in the lives of many young people. Some have implied that we’re not doing enough to reduce high-risk drinking. In fact, MSU for many years has led our peers in attacking this concern through strong education programs and disciplinary policies.
The community may not know that we sponsor weekly Thursday night and weekend alcohol-free events, including bowling, billiards, team sports, recreation, talent contests and other alternative activities.
We use radio advertisements and posters in residence halls, bars and restaurants, bus shelters, city buses and pizza and sandwich shops to tell students they’ll incur thousands of dollars in fines and fees if they violate liquor laws. We sponsor workshops and speakers who discuss the dangers of binge drinking. We tell students repeatedly that, contrary to popular stereotype, most students drink responsibly.
In partnership with the city, we have produced a DVD telling students about their off- campus responsibilities. At orientation and through newsletters we tell parents about the risks created when their children abuse alcohol. Our disciplinary process for students who violate alcohol policies is as strong as or stronger, and more comprehensive, than any other Minnesota university, including Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
We place students — including first-time offenders — on probation for violating liquor policies, and require them to meet with hearing officers, complete online and group counseling, and pay program fees. We hold students accountable even when they are not drinking but are present in a residence hall room where other students are drinking.
We assess heightened penalties for students who host a gathering with alcohol. If permitted, we tell prospective employers, graduate schools, licensing boards, the military and apartment managers of a student’s conduct history — a history that can have life-altering consequences. We suspend and expel students who repeatedly abuse alcohol.
We discipline more student alcohol policy violators than any other school within the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system.
A recent survey of MSU students by an independent agency revealed that 80 percent of our students choose either not to drink or to drink only once per week. Nevertheless, binge drinking remains a very, very serious problem that impacts the entire university and Mankato community.
We are concerned that our efforts are not reaching all students, and are not impacting some students’ behavior.
It is critically important to involve families and the entire community in influencing young persons’ actions. Research demonstrates the importance of family involvement in modeling healthy behaviors and societal values with regard to responsible drinking.
We need to help change the perceived “culture of drinking” in Mankato. We congratulate the Mankato City Council for approving tougher regulations on bar owners — a measure that we supported — and we will continue to advocate for stronger regulations and enforcement.
Beginning in July 2008, our athletic department no longer will accept advertising or sponsorship support from liquor stores and beer distributors. We are examining effective alcohol education programs at other universities that we might initiate. We are planning a summit to engage our learning community in action plans that will reach more young people with healthy messages. This initiative will be followed by an invitation to the community and other colleges in the Mankato area to participate in an even broader discussion of this issue.
Reducing high-risk drinking truly is a community cause. For four of the last five years Minnesota has been ranked as the nation’s healthiest state. This year it slipped from No. 1, partly because Minnesotans are among the nation’s worst binge- drinkers. (17.6 percent of Minnesotans binge- drink, ranking us among the 10 worst states for high-risk drinking.) I will discuss with area legislators how we can approach this growing problem in a statewide effort.
High-risk drinking concerns all of us.
The university will do more to help reduce this affliction, and I urge the community to join us in this critically important cause.
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