Over the influence

Jun. 21, 2009 – As soon as students arrive on campus for Welcome Week, they are subjected to alcohol, whether they’re drinking it or not. Many celebrate their newfound freedom from high school administrators and their parents’ authority and “crack open an ice-cold Bud Light,” as the commercial instructs. A few drinks later, incoming freshmen are drunk and ready to make new friends they might not remember in the morning.

Welcome to college. For many, there will be a lot of drunken fun. For others, there will still be fun – just not the drunken kind.

IU senior John Gunnell would rather stay sober and watch his friends get drunk.
“Most of the time that’s all the entertainment I need,” he said.

Though Gunnell is 22 and it’s legal for him to do so, he chooses not to drink. Because his family has a history of alcoholism, he grew up associating alcohol with hospital visits and funerals.

“People say drinking is an icebreaker,” Gunnell said, “but I think that’s for people who don’t have enough confidence to break the ice when they’re sober.”

Former IU Dean of Students Dick McKaig said he thinks students are heavily influenced by advertisements and the expectation that drinking is what they are supposed to do in college.

McKaig said that while many people think everyone drinks in college, there are still many students who get involved and stay sober on the weekends.

“It’s important for students to know that if they make the choice not to drink, they are not alone,” he said.

According to a 2006 study by the Indiana Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking, 71 percent of underage students reported drinking in the past 30 days. That means 29 percent did not, and many of them probably still managed to have a good time.

IU junior Jordan Moskowitz said even though she doesn’t drink, she still goes out as much as her friends who do drink.

“I like to dance, sing and be as loud and obnoxious as anyone else,” she said. “I just don’t need to blame it on alcohol.”

Moskowitz, who joined a campus sorority, said she is glad to be able to break the stereotype that associates greek life with drinking.

“I’ve found that people really seem to respect me when they find out I don’t drink,” she said.

Mathew Kerbis, a junior, is also a nondrinker involved in the greek life on campus. Instead of drinking at parties his fraternity throws, Kerbis dances with girls and tries to be a gentleman.

Since there are things to do besides drink in Bloomington, Eli Major, a senior and resident assistant in Teter Quad, has never had trouble finding a sober activity on the weekends.

“There is no reason for anyone to be bored at IU,” Major said. “You don’t need to use alcohol to not be bored.”

In Major’s experience, it’s likely that students will run into alcohol at some point during their freshman year, but he thinks that students should spend Welcome Week scoping out their peers’ drinking habits for future reference.

“Some people think Indiana is a big party school, but in reality it’s an everything school,” Major said. “It’s definitely a myth that you can’t have fun without
alcohol.”