“College binge drinking is a major public health issue and a source of numerous problems for institutions of higher living.”
- Richard Yoast, director of the American Medical Association's Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.
Alcohol abuse is a growing problem on college campuses
According to the Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, binge drinking among college students is epidemic. There are more than 1000 four-year college campuses in the US. There were 1900 alcohol related deaths reported in 2003; 300 of these deaths were directly related to alcohol poisoning and binge drinking. Forty four per cent of college students occasionally or frequently binge drink (1999 data).
Higher than average alcohol use in colleges across the country (70% of college students use alcohol regularly versus 56% in general population) Far higher rates of binge drinking in the 18-24 year old age range 44% in the 18-24 range versus 27% in the general population).
Of college students:
20% binge 3 or more times a week
44% of college students binge at least once a week
4 out of every 5 Fraternity or Sorority members binge at least once a week
The SEMS model changes the culture, and produces results
The SEMS model aims to: make students aware of the dangers of binge drinking, mixing alcohol and drugs, the consequences of binging to their school and social lives and the potential for harm and even death, change the culture of excess to one of prudence, self-control and peer to peer caring and protection, and to improve the chances that every student will have a safe and efficacious college experience without self-harm, injury or death from alcohol and drugs.
Universities realize the need for the SEMS Program
The SEMS Foundation has spread to college campuses across the country, as more and more administrators realize the importance of the SEMS program.
"We have students coming to us with a higher level of drinking experience by the twelfth grade than ever before, so we try to educate entering freshmen before they are even on campus taking classes." - Robert Maust, Chair, University of Colorado Standing Commitee on Substance Abuse
As a Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs I know how important it is to have “grassroots” student groups take up issues that are important to our students, the entire university and the larger community. SEMS has done this and, as a result, I believe they have made our many different communities safer. For all of these reasons I thank them.”
-Dr. Ron Stump
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
University of Colorado at Boulder
“As Chairman of our long-time campus-community coalition addressing substance abuse issues, which is known as the Standing Committee of Substance Abuse (SCOSA), I have seen many well-meaning student initiatives come and go that were intended to reduce the high-risk use of alcohol by students. The short lived nature of these groups can usually be traced to the fact that the initiatives were tied to a few very committed student leaders and not to a larger organization with clear and specifically articulated set of goals and a plan as to how they expect to achieve these goals. SEMS has overcome all of these well known weaknesses. It also now has a track record of translating its goals into 'real world' situations. I believe that if we had more groups of student leaders like those that have been cultivated by SEMS then the administrators at many higher education institutions that are charged with dealing with 'alcohol issues' could possibly relax a little and maybe even be reassigned to other duties.”
-Robert Maust
Chairman
Standing Committee of Substance Abuse
University of Colorado at Boulder
“I am writing to you in 2006. I want to ground my quote in time because I expect that the people associated with the SEMS organization will have done even more and better things since I became aware of their work at CU-Boulder during the academic year 2005-06. However, what they have done for our students and the larger community in this fairly brief period has been impressive. For these reasons I will only try to highlight a few of their accomplishments, such as the fact that they have
- Created a student-based organization with a credentialed advisor that has a clear set of professional goals and standards and assessment methods to assure they are meeting their goals.
- Secured a funding base for their work in very competitive annual campus-wide student referendum whereby students may agree to tax themselves to support a limited number of student groups and initiatives.
- Provided trained and committed student “monitors” that have been invited to several off campus parties where they have potentially helped reduce the risks to individuals and the group where students have gathered and some of them have chosen to consume alcohol.