Northwestern is not ready to take an official position on a national petition calling for a public debate on the minimum drinking age, university officials have said.
The debate has not “matured enough,” said William Banis, vice president for student affairs. Discussion of the petition is too simplistic and does not include recent scientific research, such as studies on alcohol’s effects on cognitive brain development, he said.
“Until some of these issues get into the national dialogue and we move further along with this debate, Northwestern is not going to take a formal position on this debate,” he said. “Right now there’s a lot of emotion and a lot of polarization,” Banis said. “We’re going to allow that phase of it to pass.”
The Amethyst Initiative is a public statement signed by 100 university and college chancellors and presidents in July in response to irresponsible drinking on college campuses. Since then, 29 university presidents, including the presidents of Duke University and Emerson College, have added their names to the list.
The petition does not endorse lowering the drinking age, but calls for discussing it.
Although NU is not signing on yet, staff experts are contributing research to the debate, Banis said. In the meantime, political realities need to be taken into account, Banis said.
“The university’s policies can’t go against state law, so we have to default to the laws of Illinois, and all the state laws are tied in with federal funding,” he said.
Jen Madison worked with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in high school. The Communication freshman is not sure that she wants the drinking age to be lowered but thinks it’s important to recognize all sides of the issue, she said.
“MADD is worried that the debate will erase all it’s done,” she said. “But at the same time, we’re here at college and drinking is such a big issue.”
For instance, making drinking legal for most NU students could curb binge drinking, Madison suggested.
SESP sophomore Claire Lew disagreed. She said universities should have more realistic rules that reflect the social realities of college drinking.
“Colleges need to reevaluate their alcohol policies,” she said. “Trying to change the age is just copping out.”
Rather than focusing solely on statistics, the emphasis needs to be on the larger picture of wellness, said Michele Morales, a member of NU’s health services department. “Our focus is health and safety, and we want students to be honest with us and create harm reduction techniques,” Morales said.
“People don’t binge drink because of lack of information about what alcohol can do,” she said. “We need to get at some of the cultural reasons, the psychological reasons and the unconscious motivations that drive people’s drinking.”
Morales organized Alcohol CHOICES, one of the four Essential NU programs for incoming freshmen. All NU students, not just freshmen, need to be reminded to stay safe when dealing with alcohol, she said.
“It’s the number-one health problem on college campuses,” she said. “I think people will continue to ask about it, and I think discussion is always a great thing. People need to be talking about it in some form.”
