Mandatory Alcohol Class for Bucknell Freshmen

Last fall, Bucknell University introduced a new required course for its incoming freshman, titled "College, Alcohol, and the Bucknell Experience."

The course encourages moderation as an alternative to binge drinking and uses factual scenarios to teach students how to assess the risks of alcohol use. Students study how alcohol is metabolized in men and women, how it can lead to crime, and who is legally liable for risky drinking.

"Students are surprised to learn that they can be held accountable for someone else's drinking," says Dean of Students Rick Ferraro.

Most incoming college students are not well educated about alcohol, and 44 percent of college students engage in binge drinking regularly -- a figure that has risen from 40 percent in 1993, according to Harvard studies.

Bucknell groups such as the Parents' Board, Phi Kappa Psi, Pi Beta Phi, and the Dean of Students Office helped make the new course possible. Since the class's approval in May, 46 faculty and staff offered to teach the course despite the short notice.

"We are cautiously optimistic that Bucknell can not only continue the general progress seen in the last few years with respect to the use and abuse of alcohol on campus, but eve serve as a model to other colleges and universities that are searching for more effective practices in this area," says Ferraro.

(1/28/2005)