Many college administrators argue that diversity leads to a better educational experience, but it may have other benefits as well.
A new Harvard University study reports that more diversity on college campuses may lead to lower levels of binge drinking.
Dr. Henry Wechsler, director of college alcohol studies at the Harvard School of Public Health, who conducted the study, found that ‘the binge drinking rates of white, male and underage students were significantly lower in schools that had more minority, female and older students.’
The study was conducted from data collected from college alcohol study surveys from 114 colleges in 1993, 1997, 1999 and 2001. Approximately 52,312 students participated.
The study is the first to examine how diversity on campuses may relate to binge drinking rates.
Students who did not drink in high school, according to the study, were more likely to start binge drinking upon entering colleges with less diversity. Incoming freshmen who were binge drinkers in high school were found to be less likely to continue binge drinking if they attended a school with higher percentages of African American, Latino, Asian or other minority students.
‘This study has shown that having a diverse student body on college campuses is an important factor in lowering binge-drinking rates,’ Wechsler wrote in the study.
The new findings should have an effect on college admissions and help college administrators see the advantages of having diverse campuses, according to Wechsler.
In the study, ‘Watering Down the Drinks: The Moderating Effect of College Demographics on Alcohol Use of High-Risk Groups,’ Wechsler defined binge drinking as ‘the consumption of at least five drinks in a row for men, or four drinks in a row for women’ within two weeks of taking the survey.
In recent research, binge drinking has been associated with lower grades, vandalism and violence.
Wechsler’s research also looked at schools with larger female populations. The study found that at larger schools, such as Boston University, having a higher percentage of women has no moderating effect.
‘The findings may help to explain why fraternities and sororities and segregated freshman dormitories that provide the highest concentration of binge drinkers account for the bulk of alcohol problems on campus,’ the study said. ‘Encouraging older students to live on campus and in fraternity houses may be one practical application of these findings; another may be decreasing the heavy concentration of white male and white students in residential arrangements.’
Although Wechsler’s research proves the power of student diversity, some students said they do not feel his results apply to BU.
‘I think BU is different because of its larger international program, and how students who were able to drink at home come here to a different set of rules,’ said College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Deon Provost, a Student Union senator. ‘Also, a lot of the students come from urban areas themselves and they know how to occupy themselves with other activities than drinking.’
CAS sophomore Alexandra Housset said the study says interesting things about how people think of typical college settings. ‘I think there is definitely a stereotype of white males getting drunk all the time in college,’ Housset said. ‘I think it’s interesting. Maybe if there was more diversity people would be more likely to interact in different ways. But then again, just because there is more diversity, doesn’t mean people would intermingle any more.’
Wechsler said he encourages colleges to use this research to reduce the binge drinking problems on campuses. Currently at BU, Caucasians make up about 72 percent of the student body with 14 percent being Asian, 6 percent Hispanic or Latino and 4 percent African American.
‘Although various interventions have been attempted at the lower level of binge drinking, to our knowledge, colleges have not yet examined housing and admissions policies and student demographics to that end,’ the study said.
BU currently does not publicly record instances of binge drinking with regard to race and ethnicity.
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