The President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs hosted its biennial town hall meeting Tuesday at North Dakota State’s Harry D. McGovern Alumni Center.
The event addressed the issue of alcohol and drug misuse with leaders from the Fargo-Moorhead community and highlighting the council’s past successes, current concerns and future preventative efforts.
Nicklaus Redenius, Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse prevention coordinator, said that the purpose of the town hall meeting was to highlight the progress made toward its strategic goals and identify areas needing continued work, inviting community members to be part of the solution.
Opening remarks of the meeting were given by PCAOD co-chair Matt Larsen who described the council as a “committee of action, made up of a diverse group of people from around campus who care about making a difference on the topic of alcohol misuse.”
Speakers Jane Vangsness Frisch, vice president for student affairs for the North Dakota State College of Science, and Macy Royston, a doctor of pharmacy student, were among the meeting’s featured speakers.
Royston, who has served on the President’s Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs and Student Advisory Committee since 2014, stressed the importance of student involvement and the power of peer influence in safe alcohol practices.
Student body president Spencer Moir and student body vice president Anuj Teotia both serve as representatives on the council. They advocated not for abstinence from drinking, but for the promotion of low-risk drinking.
Teotia said his role is to ensure the voices and opinions of the student body are heard and credited other campaigns with increasing campus-wide awareness of the dangers of alcohol misuse.
“Alcohol use on campus is a reality and I do not diminish the negative effects it has on our community members, but I am thankful for programs like the What’s Your Buzz app and the Before One More campaign,” Teotia said.
Following the highlighted speakers, attendees were asked to participate in-group discussions at their tables to address alcohol-related concerns, cultural influences on alcohol consumption and potential solutions to the issue.
Each group of people at a table then shared their evaluations of the problems and their proposals of potential solutions.
Concerns presented include the sense among students that alcohol is necessary to have fun, the large percentage of binge drinkers both at NDSU and in the F-M community and the dangerous effects drinking can have on students taking medications.
These issues were determined to stem from the pressure of family and friends to drink, exposure to alcohol at a young age and drinking being seen as a rite of passage for students. Solutions such as early alcohol education for both parents and children, enforcement of underage drinking laws and bystander education were suggested.
Laura Oster-Aaland, co-chair of PCAOD, recognized the time commitment necessary to achieve a revolution of NDSU’s culture.
“These social changes require persistence, and they require passion and hope, and most importantly they require belief in the power of people to change,” she said.
PCAOD was established in 2007 and is comprised of NDSU faculty, staff and student representatives.
The role of the council, as stated on NDSU’s website, is to support the academic mission of the university by reducing the harmful effects that result from alcohol and other drug misuse for individuals, the campus and the broader community.