In an effort to curb what is considered by administrators to be a dangerous drinking culture on campus, the Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate is designing a social norms marketing campaign to reduce binge drinking among students.
The campaign will include posters that disclose information about the drinking norms on campus and warnings against high levels of alcohol consumption, according to sophomore Yulia Korovikov, chair of the Senate's Administration and Policy Committee.
The idea for the campaign came about as a result of the combined efforts of the Senate and the Alcohol Task Force, a body of students and administrators charged last year with evaluating the alcohol policy on campus and improving strategies to reduce the overconsumption of alcohol.
The Senate authored a resolution last November advocating for the campaign's implementation, according to senior Bruce Ratain, who was a member of the task force last year.
Though senators are hoping to get the campaign off the ground soon, Korovikov said that the need for funding and professional guidance makes the process of implementing the campaign a slow one.
Instilling a change of norms on a college campus also takes time, she said.
"The reason why it is such a slow process is because we are trying to change the culture of Tufts from being [one of] binge drinking to [one of] a lot more responsible drinking," she said.
An attempt to radically change alcohol consumption, a common facet of the college social scene, could also meet student resistance, according to sophomore Brent Abel, chair of the Student Health Advisory Board, a group that serves as an advocate for students on health-related university policies.
"The most difficult matter is the sensitivity of the issue — when discussing alcohol-related issues on [a] college campus, it is a very sensitive matter because it is perceived to be a college lifestyle," Abel, who will be taking an active role in the campaign, said.
Korovikov plans to enlist more students to help in the endeavor. Her efforts are also guided by a group of faculty members who served on the Alcohol Task Force, including Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman, Judicial Affairs Officer Veronica Carter and Director of Alcohol and Health Education Ian Wong.
The campaign serves to debunk the misconception regarding college drinking and the social norms that follow, according to Wong, who last year chaired a subcommittee of the Alcohol Task Force.
Wong believes the campaign will be an effective vehicle to provoke conversations related to alcohol consumption among the student body.
"[The campaign will] state what the fact is and start empowering everyone to talk about what the real fact is," Wong said.
Ratain stressed that the social norms campaign is distinct from any university policy changes. Administrators implemented last year a stricter alcohol policy that nixed warnings offered to students for first offenses. Faced with a considerable amount of opposition to the measure, the university this year refined the policy to provide more administrative discretion in punitive measures.
Ratain emphasized that the sought-after cultural change is not a natural consequence of the overhauled alcohol policy.
"It is clear to me that you can't achieve a culture change through a policy change, and that is a realization that was spread last year," Ratain said.
Still, Ratain saw the move toward a stricter alcohol policy as a first step toward addressing risky drinking behaviors.
"It is clear [to me] that a professional-led, comprehensive, social marketing campaign is an integral and inalienable piece of effecting change [in] the drinking culture," Ratain said.
