‘It’s not alcoholism if it’s in college.’

This is a sentiment I’ve heard echoed time and time again throughout my tenure at Drake. Drake students see drinking as a joke, rather than the serious topic that it truly is. Drinking is a central part of the Drake experience. With Relays here, I am particularly reminded of this.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, in 2023, 49.6% of full-time college students drank alcohol, and 29.3% engaged in binge drinking in the past month. Additionally, about 14% of college students meet the criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder.

I see students’ problems with alcohol come out the most during Relays, but I also notice it on average weekends. As a Drake student, it’s normal to hear your peers ask, “Hey, are you going to Peggy’s tonight?” It’s the age old question that echoes through the halls of the first-year dorms on any given weekend. It’s normal to go out on a Wednesday night and show up to your Thursday morning classes violently hungover. And it’s not uncommon for professors to joke about it or allude to the fact that they know all of their students are hungover during these times.

I know all of this because I’ve experienced all of this. Before I started drinking, as a first-year at Drake, I felt left out. I didn’t feel like there were any social opportunities available to me, and I spent many weekend nights sad in my dorm while others were out drinking. I quickly developed the misperception that going out and drinking was the best way for me to make friends, and I began to rely on alcohol as a social crutch.

Following Relays last year, I realized just how unhealthy my relationship with alcohol had become, and I stopped drinking. Since then, I feel like I have gained perspective into how harmful Drake’s drinking culture can be.

It’s normal to see students encouraging each other to go past their limits. I’ve heard a significant number of stories of students who were encouraged to keep drinking, even after they were already sick or blacking out. There is a perception that drinking yourself sick is cool or funny, and it’s just not. It’s unhealthy and concerning. 

I’ve had friends from other schools come to visit me, and almost all of them have been shocked to learn it isn’t uncommon for Drake students to go out drinking four nights a week. It’s always the same questions from them: Don’t we get tired? Isn’t it expensive? Doesn’t it hurt your academic performance? 

In my experience, the answer to all of those questions is yes. 

But what else is there to do on a Friday night in Iowa?

Now, when I tell other Drake students I don’t drink, I’m often met with skepticism or shock. I’ve even been asked, ‘How do you have any fun?’ Once again, I’ve noticed myself regressing from social situations because I know I will just be surrounded by drunk people. 

There are so many opportunities to build meaningful social connections without drinking, and I’m disappointed that I haven’t taken better advantage of those throughout my college years.

There are also healthy and responsible ways to enjoy alcohol, and I am not denying the fact that there are Drake students who do this and have positive experiences. Yet as a university, there is still so much progress to be made in terms of creating a healthy culture that allows students to drink safely.

Excessive drinking hurts us, but you know yourself best. When you’re out at Peggy’s tent this week, be safe, know your limits and follow your own moral drinking compass, regardless of what Drake culture is telling you.