Located in the heart of the North Bottoms neighborhood, in a basement filled with sweat, liquor and possibly mold, are hundreds of students packed together on a tight dance floor. Against the mysterious liquid dripping from the concrete wall, there is a couple arguing. Upstairs, there’s a group of guys playing cup pong as 30 girls wait in line for the singular restroom that has 99 proof shooters in the sink and scarce toilet paper.
Amidst all of the chaos, there is one person who has had one too many drinks. Their friends are nowhere to be found, their heart is beating a little too fast and the room is spinning. All of a sudden, the room goes dark and they hit the floor.
While the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is a dry campus, only permitting the consumption of alcohol on campus with a permit, drinking is a never-ending aspect of college culture. For those that don’t know of the dangerous risks that can happen with drinking, it makes the act all the more scary.
Binge drinking is defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism as “a pattern of drinking alcohol that brings blood alcohol concentration to .08%.” According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism website, for the typical adult, this pattern corresponds to consuming five or more drinks (male), or four or more drinks (female), in about two hours.
UNL Police Department Captain Aaron Pembleton said his team often gets calls regarding students consuming alcohol.
“I would say we receive calls concerning students drinking weekly. It’s hard to put a finite number to it but I think [it’s] the culture, and it’s a kind of college campus thing of what’s going on with this age bracket. We get a couple of calls at minimum a week for reference students and alcohol,” Pembleton said.
Sometimes these calls end up being more serious. In the fall of 2022, a member of an Interfraternity Council fraternity on campus received medical attention after a night of binge drinking.
“I ended up drinking an entire handle of vodka, and I did not realize it at all. It just kind of got to the point where I didn’t really realize I was drinking that much per se,” an anonymous student said. “It came on fast and didn’t give me time to react.”
The anonymous student said they ended up being hospitalized for four days and was in a coma for two of them. This is just one of the scenarios that UNL’s Interfraternity, Multicultural and Panhellenic Councils work to prevent.
The president of the UNL Interfraternity Council, Preston Kotik, collaborates with his team to educate students about the effects of binge drinking.
“Within Greek life, we have our new members go through required CHOICES Alcohol Training, and this is separate from what the university does. CHOICES informs you on what alcohol is, what it can do and basically leaves it at your own personal decision and the consequences that can follow,” Kotik said.
Along with IFC, Panhellenic Association also stresses the importance of educating students about alcohol awareness.
UNL Panhellenic’s Vice President of Risk Education and Well-Being, Sophie Wyvill, works with the rest of Risk Education and Well-Being for Panhellenic to have an open conversation with students regarding this issue. Wyvill said the organization doesn’t preach sobriety but rather how to go about drinking in a responsible and safe manner.
“I work with chapters on risk education, so educating new members on risks on campus, how to go safely to and from parties, how to communicate if a friend is too intoxicated and how to take care of them,” Wyvill said. “Obviously [binge drinking] happens, and it’s something that needs to be addressed. We can’t just slide it under the rug. I think it’s a bigger college problem than specifically a Greek life issue.”
Binge drinking is not only combated by the larger Greek life councils but is also focused on a smaller scale by individual chapters hosting workshops and educating their members. Different houses and councils educate their members at chapter meetings and in conversations through workshops. Emma Haith, the vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion for Alpha Phi sorority, helps their own house make smart and educated decisions
“I make it apparent to my team that I want everyone to be safe and work towards making Nebraska not a binge drinking college,” Haith said. “I make it known to my team and the entire chapter that I am here if anything goes wrong. College is a time to have fun, but it is also a time to know your limits.”
Within the Greek life councils, council members advise their own workshops and lectures for chapters to attend regarding safe drinking practices. Kotik said IFC takes it upon itself to visit chapters frequently to make sure the houses are meeting university and fraternity standards.
“With every single month that comes up, our risk and management team will have meetings or random seminars that we host and put on,” Kotik said. “We visit a chapter facility every Monday, and we do a house inspection to ensure that it’s clean but also [to] make sure there aren’t things in the houses that aren’t allowed at the university.”
Pembleton said many students have had little to no experience with alcohol upon entering college. Even with all the efforts that houses and Greek organizations put into educating members about binge drinking, some students simply just have not had enough experience to realize the possible outcomes. Those who are not involved in Greek life have had fewer opportunities to learn about the potential risks associated with drinking.
“I think it’s a lack of experience. They [students] don’t understand because they don’t have enough experience with alcohol, and they overindulge. There are alcohol-facilitated crimes that happen with this, like driving or vandalizing, and then, there’s sexual assaults that occur. So, those all play into it,” Pembleton said. “Every one of those outcomes we have seen and experienced here at the police department where alcohol was one of the front runners of the causation for it.”
Educating on safe drinking habits isn’t just a Greek life solution but a campus-wide one. Haith said they believe having conversations about drinking is important for everyone.
“We are hoping that if we make a change, it could be a campus-wide change too, and [we are] just trying to decrease the pressure to go out and drink, or [teach] how to drink responsibly, how to know your limits, educating [about] the Good Samaritan laws and just having a conversation about it,” Haith said.
The Good Samaritan Law encourages students to call for help if they or a friend need medical attention, even if they have been consuming alcohol while underage. Both the person in need of assistance and the caller are protected by the law. The caller will not be cited with a minor in possession if they remain on the scene and cooperate with the first responders.
Similarly, Wyvill and her team in Panhellenic try to provide different opportunities for students to have fun in a sober setting rather than being pressured into drinking.
“I’ve had friends and colleagues be like, ‘Oh, I need a drink after this and after that.’ You need to veer away from that culture of, ‘I only drink if I’m having fun; I need to be drunk.’ So, we’re providing activities that are sober. You can do things sober, and you can socialize without being intoxicated,” Wyvill said.
The many resources available to Greek life members and UNL students are more than willing to help any student with alcohol-related problems. Similarly, advice concerning alcohol can help further down the road when students graduate and venture out into the real world.
“My goal is to provide every tool necessary, so that way every individual can make that distinction too. So, if they’re ever faced with a fork in the road, they know what’s right and what’s wrong. Or, if they’re for some reason forced down the wrong path, they have the tools to ask for help,” Kotik said.
