Survey Confirms Alcohol Stereotypes

Harvard binges less often than the rest of the nation, but true to common campus assumptions, athletes and final club members pick up the slack for the rest of the College.

More than seventy percent of Harvard athletes reported binge drinking at least once in a two-week period, compared to just 45 percent of the overall student population, a survey conducted by The Crimson found.

Three quarters of final club members binge drink and more than a fifth are frequent bingers--almost twice the rate for Harvard as a whole.

And true to national averages, Harvard men drink at considerably higher rates than Harvard women.

But one group of students consistently resists the lure of inebriation--members of religious organizations abstain at twice the levels of all students, and less than 30 percent report binging.

At Harvard, then, common stereotypes about college drinking largely hold true--athletes, final club members and men drink more, while religious students drink less--images which the groups largely accept.

Jocks On The Rocks

The myth of college athletes who play hard and drink hard pervades American culture--movies, magazines and television all show alcohol flowing freely through college sports.

At Harvard, this myth has a basis in reality.

Athletes binge more often than the general population and drink harder when they choose to imbibe.

Almost 20 percent of athletes reported having had more than six drinks the last time they drank, compared with 7 percent of Harvard as a whole.

And sports team members said they become intoxicated more than 70 percent of the time they drink, much greater than the campus rate of about 50 percent.

Alcohol-as-stress-relief is one reason athletes drink more, says Shawn D. Parker '02, a three-year member of the varsity football and indoor track teams.

"People feel like they're working hard in practice [and] busting their butt to stay on top of their books, so when Saturday night comes they figure 'Why not? I deserve it,'" Parker says.

Another reason athletes drink to excess, he adds, is that "after a big depressing loss some people might try to escape consciousness [by getting drunk]."

But stress relief is not the only reason athletes drink.

Brooke H. McCarthy '01, co-captain of the women's soccer team, says her team drinks together to celebrate games or to bond with teammates. McCarthy says these social situations are safe for drinkers because "you always have 27 other people looking out for you."

Despite these assurances of support, however, twice as many athletes as all students said their drinking has caused them to forget where they were or what they did so far this year.

Athletes at Harvard may be more inclined to drink because of their outgoing personalities, says Megan M. Austin '01, co-captain of the women's varsity lacrosse team.

"I think that athletes are a more social group of people on the whole, especially here. These people would be [drinking] anyway," Austin says. "Athletes do go out more, but I think it has more to do with them being social than with them being athletes."

Athletes acknowledge that they do drink more, but Parker and more than thirty other student-athletes are taking steps to make sure drinking does not get out of control.

Parker serves on the Undergraduate Advisory Committee, which works with the Athletic Department to schedule two mandatory meetings for all athletes at the beginning of the year that stress realistic and safe drinking habits.

At one of the meetings, Mike F. Green, president of Collegiate Consultants on Drugs and Alcohol, speaks to Harvard's athletes, encouraging them to drink responsibly rather than abstain entirely.

"Athletes are on a gratification system," Green says. "They feel like they've been deprived of social time, so they may go overboard when they get the chance."

Athletes say Green's pragmatic approach makes him more effective.

"I think it's helped a lot," Parker says. "It's not like a lecture. He knows you're going to drink--he tells you how to take care of yourself."

A one-shot lecture cannot cover everything, however, so coaches say they also look out for their athletes.

"I've got a few guys who I know I have to keep an eye on, just like anybody," says Joe Walsh, the head coach of Harvard's baseball team.

Walsh says he recognizes that players will drink--he just does not want not students to hurt themselves or the team.

Walsh checks in on players in their hotel rooms and keeps a curfew while the team is on the road, he says. On campus, he relies on the captains and senior leadership to make sure no one puts himself in danger.

"My only rule is that baseball is a priority," Walsh says. "I'm sure that good times are going on, whether that includes alcohol or not."

Longtime observers of Harvard athletics say the current system, with stricter rules and mandatory meetings, has curbed athletes' drinking.

"I can honestly say that in the late '70s [and] early '80s there was a problem, and the problem was that we didn't have the policy that we have now," says Carole Kleinfelder, who has coached women's lacrosse for more than two decades. House-sponsored happy hours and the 18-year-old drinking age made it difficult to crack down on drinking, she says.

Today, the women's lacrosse team, like many other teams, uses a "48-hour rule" honor code system where athletes promise not to drink two days before a game.

"It's really up to the individual and the team members," she says. "You can't be with them 24 hours a day."

While Kleinfelder says she is glad the days of school-sanctioned drinking are over, trust and team dynamics continue to be most effective in controlling team drinking.

"We all know that there is a point at which you can hide it, but your teammates will know," Kleinfelder says.

This positive peer pressure, Austin says, means athletes actually drink less than they might if the same students were not on sports teams.

"If they [want] to be at their 100 percent best for practice, they're not going to drink," she says.

Going Clubbing

Athletes get together to play games and then drink. Final club members seem to go straight for the drinking games--they compete in chugging at twice the rate of the entire campus, The Crimson's survey found, consistent with members' overall high level of alcohol indulgence.

Final clubs are known on campus as notorious bastions of elitism, wealth and secrecy--and drinking.

The reported drinking patterns of members do nothing to dispel this stereotype.

One out of five final club members describes himself as a "heavy drinker," compared to only one out of 20 Harvard students.

And almost 11 percent of final club members reported having nine or more drinks the last time they drank, compared to less then two percent of the total College population.

"For members, nine drinks isn't that big of a deal," says a sophomore club member. "It's going to take people who are used to drinking more drinks to get drunk. That's not binge drinking, it's what people can handle."

Final clubs remain quiet about almost everything that goes on behind their locked wooden doors and high brick walls. Members refuse to go on the record or state their club names, fearing that exposure of underage drinking could prompt a club shut-down.

The graduate boards of the clubs are wary of litigation, "lest any of those alumni officers lose every penny they have," says Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis '68, who has spoken out harshly against the clubs.

But Lewis does not think that the threat of litigation actually curbs drinking in the clubs.

"Like everything you do with the final clubs, it has an effect for some number of months and then people seem to forget, and you start hearing about problems again," he says.

The Rev. Douglas W. Sears '69, president of Inter-Club Council, the body responsible for overseeing Harvard's final clubs, says he thinks all clubs operate according to a 1984 agreement compelling clubs to obey all Massachusetts state laws regarding alcohol use and requiring that safe, sober transportation must always be provided for students at off-campus events where alcohol is served.

"With a club, you're invested in the real estate. You want to take care of the place and yourself in that place," he says. "Clubs are concerned with the safety of students and they discourage all students who are not old enough to drink from drinking whether they be members or guests."

More than a quarter of final club members say they drink 10 to 19 times per week, compared to a little more than a tenth of the general population.

"It's just that there are more occasions to drink. You go down to the club and can grab a beer between classes," says another sophomore club members. "You don't have to go to a store and it's not a hassle. Drinking is just convenient and not a big deal."

Boys Will Be Boozers

National surveys have found that college men binge at higher rates than women, and Harvard males are no exception.

The 1999 College Alcohol Study, conducted by Harvard School of Public Health Lecturer Henry Wechsler, found that 47.3 of college men binge when they drink compared to 42.6 of women, even though binge drinking for a male is defined as five drinks in one night and only four drinks for a female.

And men were 50 percent more likely than women to have been drunk three or more times in the past month.

The Harvard numbers are even more dramatic.

Twice as many Harvard men get drunk more than twice per month, and three times as many Harvard men report drinking more than 10 times every 30 days.

Weschler lists many potential reasons for the difference in men and women's drinking habits, ranging from an emphasis on weight and diet to differences in body mass and metabolism to the acceptance of beer, the college drink of choice and tradition.

Leaders of Harvard women's groups disagree with Weschler's interpretation of the data.

"Concurrently, if women were thinking of using substances on the basis of weight control, more women would smoke," says Lisa C. Vogt '01-'02, president of the Radcliffe Union of Students.

"Body image is also a problem for men," she adds.

Instead, women see their smaller physique as the reason behind the numerical spread.

Shauna L. Shames '01, president of Women's Initiative Network, says it "may also have to do with women on average not being as large physically and don't need to drink as much to get drunk."

Shames also says she believes women drink less because there are fewer organized women's social groups, and more opportunities for men to drink.

"Part of me wants to say ,'Go women at Harvard for not drinking as much as the men,"' Vogt says.

The Forbidden Drink

While Harvard athletes and final club members drink considerably more than the campus as a whole, members of religious organizations drink considerably less.

Four out of 10 religious students say they abstain entirely, compared to only two out of 10 of all students.

But religious organizations say they do not attempt to control members' drinking habits--instead, drinking becomes an individual choice.

Dharma, the largest Hindu religious organization, as well as Hillel, the center of Jewish activity on campus, serve a wide range of students, some of whom choose to drink and some do not.

"We don't really have a say. This is more of an individually-driven decision," says Mauli A. Shah '02, a Dharma board member. "Religion and partying are two separate things."

Hillel serves wine on Friday nights, and occasionally a bottle of Schnappes for post-Sabbath snacks on Saturday.

"When we do drink, it's not to get drunk but to enjoy religion or the taste," says Sarah D. Beller '03, a Hillel participant. "When you grow up with wine every Friday night, it's not a big deal."

"In fact, on Purim, you're supposed to get drunk, though no alcohol is allowed at Hillel," she adds.

Muslims, however, have explicit doctrinal prohibitions against alcohol use.

"When you belong to a community it's probably easier in general not to drink. But we are expressly forbidden from drinking alcohol," says Zayed M. Yasin '02, President of the Harvard-Radcliffe Islamic Society. "It's something most Muslims take quite seriously."

Many Christian denominations also encourage abstinence or promote responsible drinking.

"When you're very religious, it reminds you that you have a responsibility to take care of something God made," says Geoffrey A. Priedis '03, president of the Catholic Students Association.

"[The pressure to drink is] not an issue if you are religious and believe strongly enough," Preidis adds.