"Violence, Vomit, Vandalism and Victims" by Howard K. Clery

Binge drinking and illegal drugs are major scourges on most residential college campuses.-Howard K. Clery

Binge drinking and illegal drugs are major scourges on most residential college campuses. Two major studies- 5 years apart - of hundreds of institutions and thousands of students by Dr. Henry Wechsler of Harvard Medical School confirm that 40-50% of male students and 30-40% of female students drink to get drunk. Illegal drug use hovers around 20-25% of students. The result: violence, vomit, vandalism and victims. Far too many college presidents hide the real truth from parents, alumni and their boards of directors. As a result, their campuses are the high crime areas of their communities: rape, sexual assault, assault, larceny and thousands of students addicted to booze and dope. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are the nights to get high. Friday classes are usually 50% attended.

Dormitory and fraternity bathroom floors are covered with vomit and urine (at Dartmouth this is called "mung"). Too many college presidents are afraid to require professors to give tests, quizzes and papers due on Fridays. Their excuse for not doing so is called "collegiality". These presidents could mitigate the problems by strict enforcement of State and Federal laws, heavy fines, probation, suspensions and Parental Notification for every citation given to their students. On graduation day far too many graduates are alcoholics and drug dependent.

The problem is lack of leadership and guts. "The poor dears" solution to this mess is to try to change the law instead of enforcing it!

Middlebury College President John McCardell is quoted as saying, "Society expects us to graduate students who have been educated to drink responsibly."¹ He would like to change Federal and State laws to permit 18-year-olds to drink. (John, 20-30% of your entering freshman class are statistically already binge drinkers and drug abusers.)

Dartmouth College President Jim Wright is quoted as saying, "If there were an 18 or 19-year-old drinking age, we could address the issue more favorably. We can’t go around sniffing students breath or smelling their cups."1 (Jim, are you afraid of offending the clique of "Animal House" alumni?)

-Howard K. Clery - Dartmouth '53, Tuck '54
July 2001

1 - Higher Ed. Center News & Time Magazine (6/11/01)