Throughout their time on campus, the health and safety of your student are especially important to us. Today, I would like to start a discussion about alcohol, other drugs and the importance of wellness, and invite you to have a conversation about substances with your student.
Our goal at Pomona is to provide a safe, supportive campus environment for all our students. Now, the use of alcohol on campus is often a topic that both students and parents may be thinking about. Substance use and abuse is an important and complex issue on any college campus. Some students believe that alcohol consumption is a “rite of passage” during college, and they may engage in dangerous drinking “binges.” Most Pomona students are more moderate, and, indeed, approximately 20% of Pomona students abstain from alcohol entirely. The California legal drinking age (21 years old) means that approximately only a third of our student population is above that age, especially in the beginning of the academic year.
We have already begun the process of educating your student about alcohol use and abuse on campus. As part of the list of “things to do before you arrive,” which we sent to all incoming students, students need to complete an online educational course called Alcohol.Edu before they arrive on campus.
National studies show that students who complete the Alcohol.Edu program prior to arriving on campus, have a greater awareness of the problems associated with alcohol abuse. Students are informed in the online course of specific Pomona resources that are available. With the online alcohol education course, students also complete “Haven,” another online educational course regarding issues of sexual violence on college campuses, and students will be informed about specific Pomona resources as well.
We continue our education, prevention and intervention efforts about substances and sexual misconduct when students arrive and during the academic year. Students learn about the College’s policies starting at Orientation, and will participate in on-campus interactive workshops on alcohol education, awareness, and how to intervene effectively with friends and in groups. Students also learn about the College’s sexual misconduct policies and participate in “Teal Dot” bystander engagement workshops that focus on sexual violence education, prevention and intervention. Student leaders and staff lead these “bystander engagement” workshops together. Our residential programming will bring in research that demonstrates the role that alcohol can play in sexual misconduct, and the direct relationship between heavy alcohol use and low grades. Pomona students are not immune to these trends.