Binge drinking on campus addressed by Faculty Executive Committee

When Provost Jim Dean addresses binge drinking on campus, he’s going to go big.

The Faculty Executive Committee discussed the problem of binge drinking on campus and possible efforts to combat it in the future during its meeting Monday.

So far, no specific action has been made, but Dean said he hopes to cut binge drinking on campus in half within the next two years.

“What we are trying to do is to try to identify a set of people around campus who would have both the interests and domain expertise to be able to help with what might be done in this area,” Dean said.

Binge drinking is often defined as having five or more drinks within about two hours.

“There is a considerable number of students who are engaged in binge drinking on a fairly regular basis,” Dean said.

He said at least 30 percent of undergraduates self-reported being involved in binge drinking in the previous month.

French professor Valerie Pruvost, a committee member, said her students’ class discussions on the issue reveal that binge drinking is common as early as high school.

“I don’t think it’s just a University problem, I think we are seeing (binge drinking) at a younger age and they are starting to drink at younger ages,” she said.

Dean said this issue is not unique to UNC.

“I have no reason to believe that binge drinking is any worse at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill than it is anywhere else in the country, so this is not identifying a particular problem here,” Dean said.

He said many community members are concerned about the issue and he thinks it is time for the University to act.

“It’s something we need to address everywhere,” he said.

Dean said Winston Crisp, vice chancellor for student affairs, has taken a leadership role to work with the UNC system to put together a reform package, which includes controlling binge drinking, but also includes student safety issues.

“The issue is not, ‘What would the action be?’” said faculty chairman Bruce Cairns.

“It’s more that we have a thoughtful committee of people, including the students, to discuss the issue and decide how we can make this a better and safer place that everyone feels comfortable being in.”

Cairns said an important step in decreasing binge drinking is to get all major groups in the University environment to agree on a goal.

“We want to be thoughtful about this — what the issue is and how to address it,” Cairns said.

Dean said he doesn’t want to only make small changes.

“You cannot get there by doing what you are doing just a little bit better,” Dean said.

“You’d rather have a moderate success than a flashing failure.”

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