Miami U. binge drinking concerns president
Miami University is wrestling with what administrators are calling a “blackout culture” among students centered on extensive consumption of hard liquor.
President Gregory Crawford says he is determined to fix the binge-drinking problem and its impact on student health and campus culture.
“Everything is on the table,” Crawford said at a Board of Trustees meeting Friday. “I am reviewing all of our programs and initiatives and those of other universities to see what’s working, what’s not and how we can break through to students.”
Last weekend, the Oxford Fire Department made 21 alcohol-related runs in the area of Miami University. The MU Police Department reported seven underage students were hospitalized on Thursday and Friday.
Some of the incidents came in the wake of the fraternity and sorority recruitment process known as “rush,” which occurs in February each year. They also fell around the night known as “Blackout Thursday,” when women in sororities are finally allowed to drink again after opting to stay sober for a couple weeks as new sisters are welcomed.
The spike also came two weeks after freshman Erica Buschick died late last month in her dorm room, which police said was tied to alcohol.
As a president, Crawford said he was “disappointed and angry” and “concerned and devastated” as a father that high-risk drinking behavior would continue after that tragedy.
“College-age students feel invincible, as if nothing bad could happen to them,” Jayne Brownell, vice president for student affairs, said at a board meeting Thursday. “We know some of the issues were related to fraternity and sorority members, but this is not a Greek problem or a Miami-only problem. This is a national problem.”
Nearly 60% of full-time college students reported drinking alcohol in the past month, according to the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Nearly 40% reported binge drinking during that same period, an act defined as four drinks for women and five drinks for men in about two hours.
George Koob, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, said what’s most concerning is extreme binge drinking is on the rise nationwide. He said, on average, 12.5% of college students are having 10 to 15 drinks in an evening with the intent to black out.
“Part of the problem is young people not understanding they are dealing with a toxic substance,” Koob said. “Alcohol can kill you.”
Researchers don’t know what’s causing this behavior, but he said it’s perpetuated by social media, on television and in films.
“People do things they don’t even know they did,” Koob said. “And that can range from embarrassing to toxic.”