Approach to Alcohol

Earlham College’s approach to alcohol is designed to help students reflect on whether alcohol should be a part of their lives and, for students who do choose to consume alcohol, how to do so responsibly.

This approach encourages healthy lifestyles and supports students in their efforts to be accountable to each other for their actions related to alcohol use. We recognize that our community encompasses students below and above the legal drinking age of 21.

Earlham College acknowledges the developmental value of self-determination regarding the personal use of alcohol. Our approach seeks to ensure that alcohol neither becomes the focus of the College’s social life nor detracts from its educational mission.

The approach is designed to achieve the following goals:

• Educate the Earlham community to recognize that students are responsible for their own well-being and the well-being of others.
• Educate the Earlham community regarding the fundamental impacts of the abuse of alcohol on health and social relationships.
• Promote personal responsibility in the use of alcohol.
• Provide support resources for students struggling with alcohol-related concerns.
• Promote an environment free from social pressure to use alcohol.
• Reduce the negative secondary consequences of the illegal use or abuse of alcohol on the community.
• Educate students regarding the value of and respect for public, community and individual living spaces, and the ongoing responsibility to care for them.
• Foster an environment of open dialogue regarding the use of alcohol.
• Ensure the existence and maintenance of alcohol-free spaces and social functions.
• Comply with the Drug Free Schools and Community Act of 1989 and provide information regarding federal, state and local laws related to the use, possession and/or distribution of alcohol.

Leaders and participants of the College’s off-campus programs are encouraged to discuss carefully, as a group, the educational opportunities and challenges that arise when living in a culture whose prevailing attitudes, laws and expectations about alcohol use may be different from our own. Off-campus programs should develop a shared understanding of how best to balance the need to participate appropriately in another culture, to respect the sensibilities of individual group members and to best represent the Earlham community in other parts of the world.