COMEDIAN W.C. Fields once said, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it." The University would do well to heed this advice when it comes to its direct approach to promoting alcohol-free social programs.
Efforts to directly combat drinking by providing alternative activities have not been successful. The University should quit this direct approach to fighting an alcohol-centered social life and instead work to strengthen a system in which students will voluntarily choose activities besides drinking.
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Most of the current programs promoted by the University don't provide alternatives to drinking -- they provide additional social opportunities. Students don't decide between going to drink and going to Newcomb Hall Game Room or a University-sponsored concert. It's not an either-or choice. The two questions are independent of each other.
To some degree, this is a matter of timing. Instead of taking the place of alcohol-centered activities, many alcohol-free events provide the jumping-off point for a night of drinking.
Events like the Sunset Concert Series and Cinematheque movies are typical. The concerts, which are usually held early on Thursday evenings, and 7:00 movie showings, are popular pre-party activities. Many people go with a group or meet people there, then all go on to parties after the shows finish in the late evening.
Such events actually promote drinking. They get students out of their rooms, interacting with friends, and in the mood to socialize. Going to an early event doesn't satisfy many people. Most students don't leave a planned event at 9 or 10 p.m. and feel like heading straight home to bed. They feel like doing something else fun. But because alcohol-free events usually end early, activities that involve alcohol are all that are left.
Proponents of alcohol-free programs would argue that this is simply a matter of changing the scheduling. Move events later, or provide more events late at night on weekends, they would say. Unfortunately, that isn't the solution.
The main problem is the sporadic nature of these programs. As long as these activities are on an irregular schedule they're always going to be something students do in addition to other activities, not instead of them.
But the University shouldn't try to turn ad hoc programming into something students do on a regular basis. Instead, it should support the structure that already captures student interest on a regular basis -- the massive system of student organizations that already exists.
The current approach to alcohol-free programming tries to generate student interest for a system that already has money. But it would be much easier to do the reverse -- to bring money to a system that already has student involvement.
Instead of swimming against the current, swim with it. Channel the money to fund activities that have plenty of student interest but not enough monetary support. Give the money to CIOs.
Every year, Student Council completely denies funding to some groups and partially denies funding to even more. By shifting the money it currently pumps into random assorted alcohol-free social events to these groups, the University can help eliminate that funding problem. A stronger CIO system would do more to pull students away from the Corner bars and Rugby Road than movies, speakers and concerts ever will.
Student-run organizations do several things that alcohol-free programs don't. Instead of merely entertaining students, they entertain and involve them. Through groups, students can have fun but also meet people, learn new skills and often provide a service to others at the same time. That gets people involved and connected, which has effects that last much longer than a single night.
It also decentralizes the structure of providing activities for students. Instead of attempting to put on events that will attract all students, CIO-run events serve a wider range of interests by specialization. The money used to put on a single concert with broad appeal could instead be used to fund a greater number of smaller events that have more specialized appeal. That would give the same amount of money a much better chance at providing something every student wants to do.
The best way to keep students from drinking is to get them involved on a permanent basis with a group in which they're interested. Stop trying to fight a losing battle -- being what Fields would call "a damn fool." Stop pumping money, time and effort into a system of alcohol-free social programming that doesn't have a wide base of constant support. Instead, put those resources into strengthening the system of student groups that does.
(Bryan Maxwell is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)
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