Confronting College Student Drinking

A Campus Case Study

Abstract

California State University, Chico is a mid-sized, comprehensive public university with a bright history. This campus has a long and proud legacy of academic quality and notable accomplishments by faculty and students. This positive history, however, has been clouded by a darker story. At the center of this shadow side is student alcohol abuse and the school’s reputation as a “party school.” To be sure, this “party school” story has been embellished by mass media and hand-me-down tales of drinking bravado. Still, student drinking has long been a challenge for campus leaders at CSU, Chico, constantly threatening the quality of academic life, as well as student health and safety. This report describes the history of the student alcohol issue at CSU, Chico and of campus efforts to prevent alcohol abuse. After placing this campus’ experience in a national context, we trace the origins and course of the “party school” legacy at CSU, Chico from the 1920s onward. We then describe the beginnings of prevention efforts in focused prevention efforts after the infamous Pioneer Days riot of 1987. Recent data on student drinking are presented, based on questionnaires and breath-testing surveys. We then describe how the campus has sought to broaden and intensify its prevention efforts within a social ecology framework. These steps have focused on shaping conditions in the campus and community likely to influence students’ choices about drinking. Longitudinal data are then presented to address whether these efforts have made a difference. Lessons are drawn, and recommendations are offered other college campuses for preventing student alcohol abuse. These recommendations assume that student alcohol abuse is a multi-causal problem, the result of a host of influences, including societal context, family background, attitudes and values, community context, and curricular and co-curricular factors on the campus. Therefore, prevention programs must be comprehensive, focusing both on students’ own attitudes and on environmental influences within the institution’s control in the community and campus. The social ecology framework with its focus on the individual and on environmental management is very useful for guiding such efforts