Gross To Tackle Alcohol, Social Alternatives

Incoming Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 said this week that addressing issues of alcohol consumption on campus will be among his top priorities when he assumes his post in July.

Calling alcohol a “gigantic” problem, Gross said that the College needs to find ways to curb underage and irresponsible drinking and that he intends to begin studying the issue this summer.

While the curricular review Gross initiated as dean of undergraduate education will likely be his main focus next year, Gross’ comments are the first indication of his priorities for the non-academic side of his newly created deanship.

As dean, Gross will head the formerly-separate offices of undergraduate education and the College—offices which were merged with the ouster of Dean of the College Harry R. Lewis ’68 in March.

The choice of alcohol as an early priority may prove to be a controversial one. Lewis was blasted at times during his eight-year tenure for various efforts to tighten Harvard’s policies on alchohol.

In his first six months as dean, a strong push by Lewis to curtail alcohol abuse was met with substantial criticism.

Gross has said that he will use the carrot rather than the stick to battle the problem, saying that he hopes to offer more social opportunities and spaces for students so that they would be less likely to resort to alcohol in their leisure time.

“We need to find a policy that works better, we need to talk about responsible behavior,” Gross said.

Harvard’s culture must be changed “so that intoxication is not viewed as a reasonable way to spend an evening,” Gross wrote in an e-mail.

Gross also referenced the Leaning Committee’s study of sexual assault at Harvard, which emphasized the link between intoxication and the incidence of rape and other acts of sexual violence.

According to studies cited in the report, 55 to 80 percent of sexual assault victims and 26 to 55 percent of perpetrators had been drinking.

Gross said he has no concrete program in mind, but plans to work with Lewis and Provost Steven E. Hyman this summer to begin to structure a new approach.

But he has already formulated thoughts on one avenue he intends to pursue.

“There needs to be more communal student space,” Gross said, adding that students face a “1 a.m. choice”—the decision of what to do after officially sanctioned parties end at 1 a.m.

Better education, he said is also key.

“When you get to UHS [University Health Services], the disaster has already happened. We need to talk about education and training,” Gross said.

As of now, Harvard isn’t doing enough to address the issue, Gross said.

But he said a change in mentality, not a crackdown, is necessary.

Tapping a (Powder) Keg

While students say they would welcome additional social space, in the past all but the most light-handed attempts by College administration to deal with alcohol issues have been met with student resistance.

Soon after Lewis became dean in 1996, some complained that the administration was disciplining students who brought intoxicated friends to UHS.

Students have protested a zero-tolerance approach to alcohol in the first-year dorms under Lewis and Dean of Freshman Elizabeth Studley Nathans.

Most recently, students decried a ban on kegs at this year’s Harvard-Yale game tailgates, a move Lewis promoted as a measure to guard against severe alcohol related injuries and illness.

Lewis, for his part, notes that no students have died of alcohol poisoning during his tenure.

While students and masters contacted yesterday said they would support inquiry into the causes and consequences of alcohol use on campus, they differed in their judgment of the size and urgency of the problem.

Eliot House Master Lino Pertile said he doesn’t view alcohol use on campus as an overwhelming problem.

“I don’t feel that the situation is that dire,” he said, noting that his European background—he hails from Italy—may contribute to his viewpoint. “I don’t think that there is anything wrong with students drinking one beer a day,” he added.

Pertile does agree that improvement to education is overdue.

“Unfortunately, it is something that should have begun a long time ago,” he said.

Rohit Chopra ’04, the president of the Undergraduate Council, said that alcohol abuse is just one of several urgent health issues for students.

“I wouldn’t say there is an alcoholic use epidemic on campus,” he said. “Mental health problems are more unique and acute to Harvard’s campus,” Chopra added that Harvard’s alcohol problems are shared by campuses nationwide.

Studies released by School of Public Health researcher Henry Wechsler found that two out of every five college students are binge drinkers.

Lewis and Gross agree that the problem is not particular to Harvard.

“The alcohol problem is no worse, and is probably better, than it is at most American universities,” Lewis wrote in an e-mail yesterday, attributing this largely to a lack of an established fraternity and sorority system on campus.

But the fact that Harvard shares this problem at all is what has bothered Lewis.

“Our students are so smart, it is disappointing to see them doing such stupid things as endangering their lives by drinking huge quantities of alcohol in short periods of time,” he wrote in an e-mail.

Mather House Master Leigh G. Hafrey said that administration efforts to limit irresponsible alcohol consumption are not optimal, but probably necessary.

“We would love to see students control it themselves,” he said.

Social Spaces

Students and Faculty members last night welcomed Gross’ attention to the need for better and more social space, regardless of the existence of an alcohol problem.

“More money for student groups, more social space and open dialogue are always good things,” said Committee on House Life member Angela M. Salvucci ’03.

These improvements, some faculty said, would help in targeting the certain communities on campus where the alcohol problem is particularly acute.

“People in the past have alluded to the fact that we don’t have a student center...There’s no place to go after hours,” Professor of the History of Science Everett I. Mendelsohn said. “My own sense is that there are subcultures here where the abuse of alcohol...takes place.”

“There are unhealthy settings, and students eagerly flock to them,” Quincy House Master Robert P. Kirshner agreed. “It’s part of their cultural behavior.”

Hafrey said he was uncertain how closely related social spaces were to alcohol consumption. He said, however, that he would back Gross’ initiative.

“Anything that the administration feels can achieve that goal [of limiting irresponsible alcohol consumption], I will support,” he said.

—Staff writer Alexander J. Blenkinsopp can be reached at blenkins@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. O’Brien can be reached at robrien@fas.harvard.edu.