A new coalition has been formed at Virginia Tech to curb reckless alcohol consumption. The Task Force to Reduce Alcohol Harm, Injuries and Fatalities, which will meet for the first time later this week, was created in response to a number of incidents involving drinking-related harm to college students.
"The goal is to involve students in protecting life and safety," said Steven Clarke, director of the Campus Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center at Virginia Tech.
Edward Spencer, vice president for Student Affairs at Virginia Tech, created the task force, which was originally made up of students, faculty, and staff who expressed concern about binge-drinking at the university.
"It was concerned students at V.T. who first gave impetus to the committee," Richard Ferraro, assistant vice president for Student Affairs at Virginia Tech and the task force chairman, said in an e-mail. The group has spread to include members who are not affiliated with the university.
Members in part joined together in reaction to the recent death of Virginia Tech student David Gayle, Spencer said. Gayle, 19, fell Sept. 25 while trying to climb up a roof. He died of a concussion and acute alcohol intoxication.
"We thought about how we can be proactive rather than simply reactive," Spencer said. "We want to promote more responsible behavior and get students to get proactive and intervene," he said.
Members of the task force note that alcohol consumption affects students' grades and behavior.
"Too much alcohol hurts academic performance, and heavy alcohol use makes a contribution to many sexual misconduct cases," Ferraro said.
Students have a duty to intervene in situations where alcohol use poses a danger to their fellow students, Clarke said.
"We believe that students are in the best position to address overconsumption of alcohol because they are present in the drinking environment," he said.
The coalition plans to incorporate various models of bystander intervention based on similar principles which are already practiced by several programs at Virginia Tech, Clarke said.
At the University, groups similar to the Virginia Tech task force already exist. These programs include: Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team, the Let's Get Grounded campaign and Peer Health Educators.
The Peer Health Educator program is a non-judgmental organization of students trained in issues dealing with alcohol, drugs and safe sex, second-year College student Mackenzie Dunn, a peer health educator, said. The group makes presentations to organizations such as first-year dormitories, fraternities and sororities.
"We talk about how to drink in a safe manner and how to assist someone who is drinking too much," Dunn said. "We inform them of the drinking policy at U.Va. and the resources they can seek out if drinking becomes a problem."
Radford University also experienced a recent alcohol-related student death. Samuel Mason, 20, died in October. The cause of death may have been "an initiation gone awry," Ferraro said.
The incident occurred three weeks after Gayle's death at Virginia Tech. Mason had been drinking liquor at a fraternity until his friends took him home to recover. The next morning he was found dead because of a fatal dose of alcohol.
Radford established an alcohol task force in 2009, securing an Alcoholic Beverage Control grant to promote a responsible drinking education program. According to Mark Shanley, vice president of Student Affairs at Radford, the university promotes student awareness by increasing protective behaviors and reducing drinking-related negative consequences.
"Even the loss of one life to excess alcohol consumption is too high a price to pay," Ferraro said. "If one is moderate and reasonable, one can be safe and still have a good time"
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