There’s a darker side to the “drinking town with a college problem.”
A mile past the familiar neon signs a different group is meeting in the Student Union.
Around 20 students and alumni spread out in a conference room on the fourth floor of the Union and scarf down cake before the meeting starts.
The topic of the night’s Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: Finding balance.
While Alcoholics Anonymous is a recent addition to campus, LSU has a long history of drinking culture.
DRINK DRANK DRUNK
LSU is largely known as a party school. Tigerland is only a mile away from campus and holds drink specials and events almost everyday. Not only can students party every night, tailgating for games provides another reason to drink.
Moderation seems to be an foreign concept at LSU.
Seventeen years ago, in a small bar off campus, 20-year-old Benjamin Wynne enjoyed a night of drinking with his friends. The night quickly spiraled out of control with binge drinking, and Ben- jamin died from alcohol poisoning with a blood alcohol content of 0.55g/dL, over seven times the legal limit.
Shortly after, LSU became part of a grant project from the Robert Wood Johnson foundation, a philanthropy focused on pro- moting health in America, to address high risk drinking and binge drinking. After the grant ran out, the Office of Behavioral Health for Health and Hospitals sponsored a new program. The Louisiana Center for Addressing Substance Abuse in Collegiate Communities (LaCASU) was founded to offer services to students at LSU and other universities in Louisiana.
Further, LSU has a higher 30-day alcohol use than the national average along with higher instances of binge drinking.
SOPPING UP THE PROBLEM
LaCASU provides different resources for students seeking recovery, implementing campus-based AA meetings in fall 2013. The organization also offers a support group called Students in Recovery as well as a sober tailgate on game days to provide an alcohol-free zone for students on the mend.
LaCASU is not the only organization that provides resources on campus. In July 2004, LSU integrated MyStudentBody as a requirement for incoming freshmen.
Susan Bareis, a health promotion coordinator the the Student Health center, said the program’s goal is to educate and motivate
“The University Administration wanted to take a proactive approach to encourage health protective behaviors in the LSU community,” Bareis said.
According to MyStudentBody, studies show that the first few months of college are an important time in the overall academic experience of students; and LSU observes alcohol-related incidents occurring each semester involving first-year students.
MyStudentBody indicates around one in three male students and one in five female students reported having five or more drinks at their last social event.
Allison Smith, the associate director of LaCASU, said it is a Louisiana thing.
“The cultural factor of being in Southern Louisiana is huge. There is a social and cultural norm that is different here,” she said. And naturally, culture is a major influence when it comes to drinking.
Brandon*, 21, agrees.
“This is Southern Louisiana. We’re all about football, partying, and good food,” he said. “The good times are always rolling.”
UNDER PRESSURE
Bareis said part of the problem is students’ perceptions of each other.
“The college environment is unique in that students depend upon their peers and feel pressure to fit in which may lead to engag- ing in risk-taking behavior, like drinking alcohol,” she said. “Stu- dents have the perception that their peers are engaging in these risky behaviors more often than they actually do.”
According to a 2013 study by American Health College Asso- ciation, 17 percent of LSU students perceived the typical student on campus used alcohol daily in the last 30 days, when in actuality, only a little over one percent of LSU students reported using alco-
For many students, it is difficult to internalize the possibility of a drinking problem.
Melanie*, a 22-year-old student, said it can be hard to tell if you have a problem.
“Sometimes its easy to lose track of how much you’re partying at LSU,” she said. “There always something going on, and it’s so accepted to go out on school nights and party all day Saturday.”
And those who can admit they have a problem sometimes strug- gle to find rehabilitation in a party environment. In fact, LaCASU reports around 5 percent of students said they were unsuccessful in quitting drugs and alcohol, and about 13 percent reported that they may have a drinking or drug problem. Melanie found it difficult to find balance in her social life.
“I don’t particularly like drinking, but I don’t want to be the awkward, lame friend,” she said. “I don’t know if I have a drinking problem, but most of the time I feel like I’m drinking just to fit in.”
Melanie felt alone in her struggles until she found out AA was available on campus.
The AA meeting was discussion-based, and did not include any propaganda or lecturing. Members were able to express not only their problems with alcohol but with their social life, home life, and school life. There was no alienation at AA, and participants were deeply involved in the meeting as the discussion unfolded into find- ing balance in living. Personal stories stay within the confines of the meeting, so members can feel impervious to judgement.
Smith said AA on campus is a place for students to feel secure and safe.
AA is not for everyone, but it is one of the many helpful resources available on campus.
Smith hopes to see a decrease in alcohol rates in the 2015 survey now that AA meetings are available on campus every Wednesday.
*Students interviewed chose to only be referred to by first names.
