When I arrived at Tufts, I was immediately struck by the vibrant community - students who were impassioned, energetic and caring, and faculty and administrators who were deeply engaged with those students.
At the same time, I was concerned by the number of students who needlessly compromised their well-being, and that of others, by abusing alcohol. Tufts is by no means alone in this. Dangerous drinking is a concern on every campus in America. At Tufts, our students and staff have chosen to tackle this issue directly and collaboratively, and we have seen some encouraging signs that our efforts are working.
Data for the first seven weeks of the fall semester shows that overall alcohol violations and alcohol-related calls to Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS) are the lowest they have been in four years (2013-2010). What happens at the beginning of the semester is often a good indicator of trends for the entire academic year. But we will need to continue to look thoughtfully at data to identify trends and determine where we are seeing success and where we should focus further attention.
The involvement of students has been key to the progress we've made so far. We cannot simply impose changes in social behavior; such change must be embraced by students themselves. Working together, students, staff and faculty have created and implemented interventional programs that address the problem on many fronts. For example:
Our alcohol policy now clearly states that no one who seeks medical intervention for herself or himself or for others will receive disciplinary action and also provides that when a student requires medical intervention for drinking, it will be treated as a medical situation, not as a judicial matter. We hope this removes any hesitation about calling for assistance when necessary, and encourages students to look out for one another.
Students themselves decided to change the venue and atmosphere of the fall semester's major social gathering, replacing Fall Ball with Fall Gala, a more sophisticated, on-campus event. Alcohol violations, calls to TEMs and hospital transports were all down significantly compared with the previous year's event.
The Department of Health Education, the Tufts Community Union, Tufts students and Tufts Marketing Communications created a social norms marketing program. The campaign, "We Are Tufts," reinforces the fact that the student body as a whole behaves responsibly (thereby debunking the myth that excessive drinking is expected at Tufts).
Orientation and Pre-Orientation Leaders, Resident Assistants, Peer Leaders and others have been trained on Tufts policy, how to talk with first-year students about alcohol use and how as active bystanders to intervene in risky situations. We have also been encouraged by the continued participation and positive response of Greek life officers and chapters, who receive training in alcohol policy and the responsibilities involved in having a party before they are allowed to host such a gathering.
We know that students' parents and families are an important influence on their behavior. For the second consecutive year, we sent the parents of all incoming first-year students a handbook with factual information about alcohol use and its physical and behavioral consequences and guidance on how to talk with their children about alcohol use.
It is far too early to declare victory in the battle against dangerous drinking at Tufts. While alcohol violations are down significantly, alcohol-related transports to the hospital are actually somewhat higher than in 2012 and 2010. This may reflect our new alcohol policy that students are now more willing to call for assistance when a fellow student is in serious circumstances. But 59 violations of our alcohol policy in almost two months is still too many, while 31 hospital transports means that students are still putting their health and safety in jeopardy. We will need more data over a longer period of time to get an accurate picture of trends.
But the news is encouraging. I am proud of the way that our community has come together to deal with this difficult issue and grateful for everyone's hard work. Together, we can continue to make progress to eliminate dangerous drinking at Tufts.
