More Colleges Help Students in Recovery
A growing number of colleges are offering special services to students who are recovering from alcohol and other drug addiction and want to stay in school without being exposed to a lot of drinking, the Associated Press reported Feb. 28.
“There is that sense when you're in college that if you can't drink, you're not going to have any fun, and part of the work that we do all the time is helping people get past that,” said Lisa Laitman, director of Alcohol and Other Drug Assistance Programs for Students at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Rutgers provides on-campus housing specifically for students in recovery. Other colleges are beginning to offer similar services.
For instance, next fall, the University of Texas at Austin opens its Center for Students in Recovery, which will provide students with a support system and a for-credit academic course entitled “Complete Recovery 101.”
Texas Tech University recently received a $250,000 federal grant to create a national model of its students-in-recovery program, which began in 1986. The program offers scholarships to college-aged people in recovery, as well as on-campus 12-step meetings and academic support.
“I think more schools are starting to realize it's an issue that needs addressing,” said Andy Finch, director of the Association of Recovery Schools, which was formed two years ago. “I think the idea of binge drinking or heavy drinking on campus has been getting some exposure for a while, but I feel like more and more schools are starting to see that once people have taken it beyond binge drinking and people have become alcoholics or addicted, or perhaps receive alcohol and drug treatment, there's a pretty significant dropout rate.”
While many colleges encourage students to drink less, Laitman said the next step should be providing assistance for students in recovery.
“I think that part of it is that we have a fair amount of denial in our culture that people of this age could have substantial problems,” Laitman said. “And so we still think, 'Well Johnny just drinks too much. If we just slap him on the hand, and give him a fine and send a letter home to his parents that'll get him under control,' when the issue might be far more than that.”
“Johnny may have a father who's an active alcoholic so he has a family risk; we may find out that Johnny had underage arrests when he was in high school and he got a DWI over winter break and that's a different picture than someone who just drinks a little too much at a frat party.”
Since students in recovery represent a small percentage of the college campus, Finch said financial concerns might prevent more universities from going beyond offering substance-free housing.
“Trying to make the case that we should invest in programming for this small number of students can sometimes be difficult and I think the financial barrier would be actually hiring staff, developing programming, and creating housing,” he said.
But Finch added, “I think all universities have an obligation to their student body to provide services that will help them stay in school.”
