Area Schools Join to Fight Binge Drinking

Harvard joined a coalition of 23 other Boston-area colleges yesterday in endorsing a 50-point plan to curb campus binge-drinking. But Harvard administrators said the measure would have no effect on the College's alcohol policies.

The plan, the culmination of a year-long collaborative effort, was created to combat "problem drinking" on college campuses in the wake of MIT first-year Scott Krueger's death last fall and the release of a report on the pervasiveness of college binge-drinking last year.

"The goal of the recommendations is to establish minimum criteria that all schools that sign this agreement will try to achieve," said Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III, who represented Harvard at the group's meetings along with Coordinator of Student Activities Susan T. Cooke.

But Epps said Harvard already meets the overwhelming majority of these criteria, which include the prohibition of alcohol delivery to first-year dorms and efforts to control sports-related drinking such as the distribution of alcohol at tailgates and school-wide events.

The schools also pledged to provide more training for residential counselors and advisers, promote alcohol-free campus events and improve communication with local law enforcement.

Epps said Harvard will not change its policy in the few areas where the plan differs from College policy.

For example, the agreement calls upon participating schools to train faculty members to identify problem drinking in students and intervene or offer referrals.

"This doesn't fit our culture in terms of teaching faculty," said Epps, who indicated the College would not offer additional training to faculty.

Other provisions in the agreement include increasing the availability of alcohol-free events and making all fraternity "rushes" alcohol-free, a policy Epps described as "not applicable" to Harvard, which does not recognize final clubs and fraternities as student organizations.

But while Harvard was willing to sign the agreement in spite of its already more forceful policies, not all schools agreed with the University's thinking.

"We felt it was inappropriate to sign an agreement with less-stringent guidelines than we currently have in place," said Colin D. Riley, a spokesperson for Boston University (B.U.). Riley said B.U. is a member of the coalition and supports its work, but decided not to sign the plan.

"It would just be hypocritical for us to sign something and tell our students, 'We're doing this for other schools, but we hold you to a higher standard,'" Riley said.

Epps defended Harvard's decision to sign on, in part to be a "good neighbor" and compare notes with local colleges.

"I don't think we're doing everything at the highest level," Epps said. "We can learn from other schools."

But whether the proposal will help Harvard reach the "highest level," is far from certain.

Henry Wechsler, a lecturer at the School of Public Health, whose report on binge drinking helped set the coalition in motion, called the plan "a useful first step," but said more needs to be done.

"This is not by any means a solution to the problem," Wechsler said. "I hope they don't plan to stop here."

Wechsler said colleges need to customize the alcohol policies to fit life on their campuses and should make an effort to involve student groups from across the different schools in the campaign.

"It doesn't hurt for institutions to make a commitment," Wechsler said. "But what ensues in the next few years will allow you to tell whether this is a p.r. gesture or a sincere effort."

Duane H. Dreger, president of MIT's inter-fraternity council, lauded the measure.

"It's not a draconian 'one strike and you're out,'" he said. "It will take time to change the student culture."

Dreger predicted widespread student support for the measure, and echoed Wechsler's call for student group involvement across campuses, particularly concerning Greek life.

--Rosalind S. Helderman contributed to the reporting of this story.