In recognition of University President John T. Casteen III's continual dedication to alcohol and substance abuse prevention, the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention will present him with the first Presidents Leadership Group Award this Friday at the Board of Visitors meeting.
The award was created to highlight college and university presidents who have taken an active role against substance abuse so that they may serve as models to other presidents.
"The college alcohol issue is a pervasive one that needs to be addressed in a comprehensive manner," said Helen Stubbs, spokeswoman for the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention. "We want to bring attention to those presidents who have been leaders on this issue."
Casteen has initiated and supported numerous University programs for the prevention of substance abuse, including an increase in professional staff devoted to alcohol and other drug prevention and the adoption of a parental notification policy.
Other policies include ending re-admittance to football games, deferring fraternity and sorority rush to the spring and increasing the presence of University police, according to Stubbs.
Although Casteen said he recognizes that substance abuse problems exist at the University and need to be addressed, he added that "statistically, they're not as big a problem here as at other institutions."
Other programs adopted under Casteen's leadership include summer orientation for parents and students and social norms marketing, which attempts to show students that most of their peers on Grounds either abstain from drinking altogether or choose to drink in moderation.
"This is the first of these awards they've given," Casteen said. It partially "was a recognition of the things we had done on the social norms approach."
Stubbs also commended Casteen for his leadership outside the University.
"One of the things that impressed us about Casteen was that he had served as a leader not only on his own campus but also on a statewide and national level," Stubbs said.
Casteen served on the Virginia Governor's Task Force on Substance Abuse and Sexual Assault on College Campuses in the early 90s and the Virginia Attorney General's Task Force on Drinking by College Students in the late 90s, Stubbs said.
As far as national achievements, Casteen served on the Task Force on College Drinking established by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a federal research agency sponsored by the National Institute of Health, she added.
"President Casteen is certainly deserving of this award," said James C. Turner, University director of student health.
Recent surveys have shown that the percentage of students who identify themselves as usually abstaining from alcohol has gone up, while the numbers of students going to the emergency room for alcohol-related incidents has gone down, Turner said.
"We feel cautiously optimistic -- as a result of these surveys -- and President Casteen's leadership, vision, and support have permitted us to feel that way," he added.
Susan Bruce, director of the University center for alcohol and substance abuse education, also commented on trends in drinking.
"While the numbers of students who drink is still higher than we would like, the overall trend over the past ten years is that drinking rates have leveled off and may even have started to decline," she said.
Bruce attributes at least part of this optimism to Casteen's support for initiating policies and programs.
Read More
Shots fired reported at 100 block of Harmon Street, no injuries reported
By Thomas Baxter | 4 days agoThis is the first community alert of June.
Full Board discusses financial aid challenges, medical research and entrepreneurship
By Thomas Baxter | 6 days agoBoard members discussed the Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative, a project that aims to help develop more entrepreneurial ventures at the University.
Finance Committee approves 2024-25 operating budget and Major Capital Plan
By Zackary Holt | 6 days agoThe proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget for the Academic Division includes a 6.8 percent increase in spending over the previous year.
