Sourcebook | Action Planner | Task Force Planner & Guide | Highlights | Publications CD
Campus and Community Share Alcohol Prevention Efforts
By David S. Anderson, Ph.D.
Director, Center for the Advancement of Public Health George Mason UniversityWe all know too well and hear all to often, of the ways in which alcohol can cause problems with the lives of students-athletes. For our four-year campuses, reports indicate, for the campus as a whole, alcohol is involved in 64 percent of incidents of violent behavior, 42 percent of physical injury, 65 percent of property damage, and 29 percent of student attrition.¹ With student athletes, recent data demonstrates that college athletes (61 percent of males and 47 percent of females) are more likely to drink heavily (five or more alcoholic drinks in a setting) than non student-athletes (45 percent of males and 31 percent of females).² We also hear of ways in which alcohol abuse affects athletic performance and can reduce much of the team spirit that many work so hard to create.
What is less publicized, are the ways in which concerned personnel can provide leadership to reduce and prevent alcohol problems. Many approaches can be incorporated whether it is moving toward a community spirit, such as was emphasized at the recent CHAMPS/Life Skills conference, or focused alcohol abuse prevention efforts. The themes we emphasize with our athletics teams - teamwork, community and a plan - apply directly to our alcohol abuse prevention work. The leadership does not lie with any single person, rather it rests with each person as a part of the responsibility. Most important is the fact that resources do exist, thus helping each of us work more efficiently with strategies that have worked elsewhere.
The Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies project, funded by The Century Council, has two resources which aid campuses in their efforts to address alcohol problems.
The Sourcebook compiles strategies that campuses have found helpful in their efforts to reduce alcohol-related problems. A few campus strategies used with student-athletes or with athletic events include team standard setting, public service announcements, mandatory policy meetings, courses on drug and alcohol issues, workshops on staff training, advisory boards and peer mentoring. This resource also contains greater details on these approaches and identifies other approaches from non-athlete settings that can be adapted as appropriate.
New resources with this project are the Task Force Planner and its accompanying Guide which illustrate the important theme of "shared responsibilities" in orchestrating alcohol abuse prevention. The resources contain general approaches, including policy, awareness and support, as well as, personnel approaches, including campus leadership, student groups, health and counseling and community, with appropriate strategies for their involvement. By implementing the "shared responsibilities" theme conscientiously, the burden on any one person or group is limited.
Further, by thinking globally within a comprehensive, long-term framework, many of the problems associated with alcohol abuse, noted above, can ultimately be reduced.
The Task Force Planner and Guide provide directions for planning efforts within the "shared responsibilities" framework.
It is only by combining our personal commitment to reducing alcohol-related problems and resources such as those cited above that a difference with alcohol issues among our student-athletes can be attained. The teamwork inherent in efforts of the athletic departments, teams, athletics team leaders, student-athletes and the campus as a whole can promote the desired end results of community, minimized alcohol problems and high performance.
- Anderson, David and Gadaleto, Angelo. College Alcohol Survey, 1979-1997. George Mason University, VA.
- Leichliter, Jami et al., "Alcohol Use and Related Consequences Among Students with Varying Levels of Involvement in College Athletics," Journal of American College Health 46:257-262, 1998.
If you would like to order, at no cost, any of the materials featured on this website, please e-mail your request including your name and mailing address. For additional information about Promising Practices: Campus Alcohol Strategies, please call 703-993-3697 or e-mail us.