Baylor University promotes abstinence at freshman orientation, in residence halls, and through student organizations. Drinking is banned on campus and at university-sponsored events off campus. An educational program and counseling services are also available to students.

A number of colleges have begun working with bar and liquor stores in their surrounding communities to discourage promotions that contribute to a student's attitudes about drinking.

At Southern Methodist University in Dallas, parents and incoming freshmen take an alcohol education course together during summer orientation. In addition, all students are required to take two wellness courses, which include alcohol and other drug education.

At Texas A&M, where student Michael Wagener died of alcohol poisoning on his 21st birthday in 1999, students who turn 21 receive a card about safe drinking that is signed by Wagener's parents, the university president, and vice president for student affairs. The university also has a safe-rides program called CARPOOL (Caring Aggies R Protecting Over Our Lives).

Texas Christian University prohibits any alcohol-related items, like beer posters, in dorm rooms. A student organization group also supports athletic teams without promoting alcohol.

Other Texas schools, like Texas Tech, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas (UT), also provide on-campus support programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, or offer peer-adviser programs.

"We don't promote drinking," said Chuck Roper, coordinator of Alcohol and Drug Education for University Health Services at UT-Austin. "But there's no way we would lose a student faster than to walk in and start preaching about the evils of alcohol. Our focus is on harm reduction."

Several other Texas colleges use the Alcohol 101 Plus CD-ROM course or the online course Alcohol 201: Choosing a Direction.

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