Alcoholics Anonymous, the sobriety organization co-founded by a Dartmouth alumnus, is set to debut on Dartmouth's campus this Thursday. Bob Smith, Class of 1902, co-founded what later became AA while struggling with his own drinking problems in Akron, Ohio.
Dartmouth alumni who are recovering alcoholics and members of AA brought the program to the Hanover campus and will facilitate the meetings. While AA meetings do not turn away people looking for support in their battles with addiction, the on-campus discussions will be geared primarily toward current undergraduates.
Almost 14 million Americans, about 1 in 13, are alcoholics or abuse alcohol, according to the organization. AA estimates that each alcoholic's drinking negatively impacts the lives of four other people.
The alumni behind the program anticipate some problems encouraging students to join the meetings, because the level of motivation and success of many students here may make AA's message unattractive, said "Bill S.," one of the alumni helping bring AA to campus.
AA works with individuals who admit having a problem that they cannot deal with alone. Students at the College are used to handling the stresses and difficulties encountered in life. Getting students to see powerlessness over alcohol as something that needs to be dealt with rather than as a weakness that should be hidden will be a struggle, Bill said.
An alumnus from the 1970s, Bill played on the football and baseball teams as an undergraduate and reconciled his excessive drinking with athletic success. He now realizes he modified his goals in college to hide and allow for his drinking.
Bill said he is worried that when athletes spend almost all of their time with the same group of people, they develop a distorted view of normal behavior.
"It's really easy for people to avoid looking at their own drinking habits," Bill said.
Through AA, Bill said, he was able to get sober. Since he stopped drinking, he said, he's been struck by the amount of free time he has and the chances he has to pursue new goals. He added that he now hopes to provide current Dartmouth students with that same opportunity by helping them nip their own problem drinking in the bud.
Bill admitted that he did not know how many people would attend the AA meetings at first, but he emphasized that if even one student attends and is able to avoid some of the suffering that alcoholism causes, the meetings will have been worthwhile. The meetings, however, are not geared only to those who think or know they are alcoholics.
"We're a resource for people who are questioning the role of alcohol in their lives," Bill said. "We're hoping for people to come to the meetings and see if they identify with anything."
While the College works to combat binge drinking, defined as having more than four or five drinks in a sitting, the AA program will be tailored towards students wondering about alcohol dependence. Students who may not qualify as binge drinkers but have difficulty stopping at one or two drinks might consider attending the discussion, Bill said.
Alcoholics Anonymous is not affiliated with any other groups or organizations, thus the group is not linked to the College, nor will the College have any knowledge of who is attending the meetings.
"All we're looking to do is to provide a resource based on Alcoholics Anonymous' principles for people who are dealing with alcohol problems in their lives," Bill S. said.
The first meeting will be held on April 14 at 7 p.m. in 119 Silsby Hall.
