Harvard, Boston, Northeastern and Tufts Universities were among some of the signers, as was UMass. The College, along with several other small liberal arts institutions, did not sign. "The agreement had a mandatory aspect that was not in the spirit of this college," said Director of Health Education Denise McGoldrick.
The agreement was proposed shortly after Harvard released a study showing that New England has the highest rate of underage drinking in the country.
A press release from the Department of Public Health (DPH) stated that 42 percent of Massachusetts college students have taken part in binge drinking at some point. This is defined as five or more drinks in a row for a man, or four or more for a woman. Seventeen percent of students said they had unplanned sex after drinking and 22 percent drove a car. These activities also present significant risks to non-drinkers.
The universities and colleges that signed the agreement pledged to "implement action plans on their campuses which will strategically employ effective prevention, education, intervention and enforcement measures to combat on-campus and underage drinking" over a three-year period, according to the Department of Public Health's press release.
The DPH recommends that the plans include on-campus substance-free housing, mandatory alcohol education classes for all members of student organizations and strict punishments for alcohol-related offenses, according to Roseanne Pawelec, a spokeswoman for the DPH. However, signing the agreement does not mean the school is required to implement any of the recommendations.
Representatives of schools that signed the agreement had different interpretations of what compliance would mean. "Our guidelines are very consistent and cover most of what was issued there," said Colin Riley, a Boston University (BU) spokesman. "We consistently hold students responsible for the misuse of alcohol. Our standards exceed the minimum expectations."
BU already has a policy of notifying parents of every alcohol offense and will ask freshmen to leave after two offenses. Riley said that the strict policy was effective in discouraging irresponsible drinking. "I can count on one hand the amount of people who have come to our attention more than once," he said. "For us, signing doesn't accomplish anything except saying we're all on the same team, that we realize it's a serious health and safety issue."
Other schools like Harvard do not already have alcohol policies that are stricter than the recommendations. It is not clear exactly what changes these schools will make. "Harvard is certainly in agreement with the spirit of the initiative," said spokesman Robert Mitchell. "It's a three year plan and there is some time to look at all the specifics."
Amherst's current alcohol policy allows far more discretion on the part of college administrators than the new agreement outlines. McGoldrick said that students are referred to the Health Center upon a first alcohol offense. A second usually results in disciplinary measures and notification of parents. The essence of the policy lies in the student's responsibility for his or her own choices.
The Association of Amherst Students expressed concern at a recent meeting that the current policy may be related to the recent rise in vandalism and dorm damage and the dean of students' office has expressed similar concern, according to McGoldrick. Some students also criticized it. "[The College's policy] is more or less nonexistent, from what I understand," said Brian Kelly '05.
"It bothers me when they turn the other cheek in the freshman dorms," said a freshman who wished to remain anonymous. "If you want to drink, I don't have a problem. Just go somewhere else."
Most students thought that the current policy was appropriate. "I think it's the distinguishing mark of a liberal arts college to trust their students enough not to make insane regulations," said a junior who also asked to remain anonymous.
Some people thought this trust might be misplaced. "I generally don't have a problem with drinking," said Rachel Dunham '05. "People should be old enough to have some common sense."
John Downey '03, who has been a resident counselor (RC) in first-year dorms for two years, has seen the consequences of underage binge drinking. "Amherst has a policy that's pretty much about personal responsibility," he said.
"The majority of students are ... completely responsible. Some choose not to drink at all," Downey said. "Maybe only 10 percent make one or a few bad decisions-a very small number actually have a problem with dependence. Even binge drinkers do it within limits. As long as they're not belligerently drunk or self- destructive it is okay. RCs aren't policemen like at a lot of bigger schools."
Both Riley and Downey suggested that the agreement might be more important for larger schools than for smaller ones. "It's hard to empower students in a large social setting to make strong decisions," Riley said.
"If you're going to go to a big school where you are just going to be a number, then expect to be treated like a number," said Downey. "Here you can expect individual attention. If you have a problem, your RCs, your advisor, the deans will know. And they can help."