ATLANTA – On-campus alcohol abuse and prevention was the topic of choice at a recent National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NAPSA) Student Affairs Administrators in High Education conference.
Of note was featured speaker Robert L. Carothers, president of University of Rhode Island (URI). In addition to banning alcohol at all university events and lobbying the state to evoke stricter laws against businesses selling/serving alcohol to underage customers, Carothers spoke about URI’s “three strikes” policy that employs parental notification and suspension as punishment to students guilty of violating alcohol-related infractions.
Presidents from other universities also spoke on subjects such as the perils of dealing with alcohol abuse at small colleges and attempts to raise awareness by having students take online courses on alcohol abuse.
Research plans funded by grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) for alcohol abuse intervention projects were also presented by two universities. One emphasizes parent intervention, while the other focuses on peer-led interventions. Also, a clinical psychiatrist from Morehouse School of Medicine discussed the adverse affects of alcohol abuse on African-American students in particular.
