Underage drinking is a problem that involves not only students, but also faculty members, administrative staff, and parents of students. Described by the U.S. Surgeon General as “the most serious public health problem on American college campuses today,” this issue brought together students and administrative staff members at the President’s Summit on Alcohol Use and Abuse last month. The daylong event was held at Water’s Edge Resort in Westbrook, Connecticut.

A morning session served as an overview of the issues from both a local and national perspective. After a brunch, participants split up into discussion groups to grapple with the issues of event planning and management, community standards, and education and communication. Following the smaller group meetings, the groups reconvened to make presentations of their findings, to discuss the challenges that lie ahead, and to plan the next steps.

In a summary e-mail sent to those who participated in this first-ever summit, President Richard H. Hersh outlined two conclusions that came out of the retreat. The first, articulated near the end of the day’s discussion, is “that we cannot accept our present condition and that our best hope is to work to construct a stronger Trinity community. Such a community… requires that it must ‘own’ the alcohol problem and is one that better approximates the ideal of a great liberal arts college in which we all feel more authentically connected to each other and to Trinity itself.”

The second conclusion Hersh outlined is that the dialogue that began at the summit is “only a beginning.” Hersh noted summit participants’ agreement to widen the conversation on alcohol “so that all students become participants. This next step not only has the virtue of producing more concrete suggestions but also is a process that builds community—sharing our most genuine concerns and working together for noble ideals.”

“I don’t think any students who were at the conference (or on campus for that matter) deny the fact that we can do a better job of setting appropriate community standards when it comes to alcohol use on campus,” says attendee Robert Corvo ’04. “I would have never thought that just getting together and speaking in a frank, open forum could help so much in starting to think about the way we view campus social life. I’m encouraged by what lies ahead.”