Letter to Undegraduate Students and Parents about Alcohol

March 3, 2006

Dear Undergraduate Students and Parents,

Much has been written and discussed the past few years about the differences among students entering college today, students from years past, and the parents of both. The positive comments highlight the care and concern of today's parents and the many things they have done to provide their children with every opportunity for success. The negative image most often is that of a "helicopter parent" who is involved in almost all aspects of their student's college experience and acts in place of the student when navigating the collegiate environment and dealing with administrators and faculty. Naturally, the truth and reality for most students and parents are somewhere in the middle.

Alcohol - and the role it plays in the lives of college students today - is another one of those topics we read and hear about quite often. It has been part of the fabric of the college social scene for decades, and for the past several years both our own internal statistics and national statistics indicate that drinking patterns and habits are generally well-formed prior to students' entrance into college. High schools are dealing with these issues regularly. In other words, college may be a place where students experience more freedoms and control over their daily decisions, but it is less and less the place where students experiment or try many things for the first time.

Having recently completed my own 5-year tenure as Fairfield's Dean of Students, I recall vividly too many instances of having to react to and deal with the negative effects of alcohol consumption. These include students being taken to the hospital with clear signs that their bodily systems were dangerously shutting down, female victims of sexual assault, males who have been in fights, friends who thought it better to let their friends sleep it off in order to avoid "getting into trouble", signs ripped down in residence halls, sinks or toilets broken off the wall, and students engaging in other high-risk behaviors under the influence of alcohol. In fact, I can remember very few, if any, examples of truly disruptive conduct that did not involve alcohol in some way. My experiences were no different than my counterparts at other colleges and universities, especially those with which many of our students and parents are most familiar.

At Fairfield University, we remain as committed as ever to dealing with the "alcohol issue" and its ensuing problems. We will set clear expectations for student conduct and follow through with the prescribed actions. We will offer educational programs, counseling services, and a student conduct process in the mold of Ignatian pedagogy - context, experience, reflection, decision, and evaluation. Most of all we will seek policies, procedures, and best practices which are meaningful and effective. We cannot lose sight of our main objectives by getting lost in the details or minutia of policies or philosophical statements.

Upon assuming my new position at Fairfield University on January 1, 2006, I spent some time reading through the multiple reports on file from the many task forces in the past that have studied the alcohol issue and recommended solutions or actions to address it. I am confident that much progress has been made, but it is clear that our work will never be done. Ours is a dynamic community. We welcome new students each year, and the profile, perceptions, experiences, and expectations those students bring with them to Fairfield continue to change and evolve.

As you might expect, students do not always embrace or support our efforts to reduce alcohol consumption. At times, students are downright hostile to our efforts. What you might not expect, however, is that parents often resist our efforts as well, especially when it involves their own son or daughter being disciplined for alcohol-related misconduct. During freshman Orientation each year, it is not uncommon for parents to ask me what will happen to students who are found in violation of the Alcohol Policy the first time, second time, third time, etc. I always answer these questions with a question of my own, "Are we talking about your son or daughter or someone else's?" My point is that people often support and demand serious disciplinary action, including dismissal from the University, when the problem does not have personal implications, but when the problem is personal they often offer a unique set of circumstances which warrants the University giving someone yet another chance or not imposing one sanction or another.

Some of the other arguments I hear often from students and alumni against tougher or more serious attempts to reduce the social focus on alcohol include statements such as "college students will always drink and the school should just accept that", "it will only encourage students to go to more bars and then drink and drive", "prospective students will not want to come to Fairfield anymore and admissions will suffer", and "tradition is being lost".  The paradoxical goals of many alumni require that the institution remain largely the same as when they were students while at the same time improving in reputation, exposure, and quality.  Students often long for the perceived glory days of the past and lament about the demise of their social lives. Recently, I learned about a student protest during the 1980s where students erected cardboard gravestones mourning the death of social life at Fairfield after a policy limiting or restricting the presence of kegs on campus was instituted. (Trust me, in 2006, social life at Fairfield is alive and well!)

As I begin my new role at Fairfield University and Dr. Thomas Pellegrino begins his role as Dean of Students, I write to you to reaffirm our commitment to promoting a campus atmosphere that accepts the legal and responsible consumption of alcohol and takes clear and reasonable action to reduce and deal with illegal or abusive consumption of alcohol and the problematic behavior too often associated with it. I hope you will support us in our efforts.

Sincerely,

Mark C. Reed
Vice President for Student Affairs

MCR/eb