Towards the end of Fall term, my roommate invited me to watch her perform in a play as part of the women's and gender studies course she was taking. Not sure what to expect, I traveled to a substance abuse rehabilitation center in Bradford, Vt. called Valley Vista, where the play was being performed.
The creative, funny play showcased a variety of scenarios that provided insight into the difficulties that patients at Valley Vista face as they battle addiction. The most emotional and telling part of the performance, however, came at the end when the actors shared their personal stories. Through these honest accounts, the patients of Valley Vista described the challenges they face, including the negative stigma forced upon them by society. With tears in their eyes, women who for years had abused alcohol, prescription pills and recreational drugs described feeling the judgmental eyes of society looking down on them, dubbing them outcasts in a world that strives for an image of perfection.
As I sat in the audience listening to their accounts, I started to think about the dichotomy between social norms at Dartmouth and the rest of the world. While society outside of Dartmouth shuns people with addiction and categorizes them as undesirable, society as we know it at Dartmouth encourages drinking in excess as well as engaging in other harmful substances particularly within the Greek scene.
That said, the issue of the drinking culture at Dartmouth has been talked about for so long that people are tired of hearing about it. While I don't doubt that the administration has good intentions in creating groups like the Student and Presidential Alcohol Harm Reduction Committee and, most recently, revising the Social Events and Management Procedures, many students feel the effect of new initiatives as little more than another blitz in their inbox. But while administrators continue to publicize their big plans, repeating their fear that a student will die from a night of binge drinking, it seems that another dangerous problem is often neglected.
The problem lies with those students who "drink responsibly" in that they have avoided a trip to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center thus far, but over many weekends are developing a long-term alcohol addiction that seems to be ignored by both the College and their friends.
Sitting in the audience that day at Valley Vista, I recalled an experience from Homecoming weekend a few weeks prior. I was sitting in someone's room in a fraternity, bottles of vodka and rum strewn everywhere, when the owner of the room walked in and announced that he was going to bed so he could wake up early and drink some more. The people around me laughed it was quickly brushed off and the conversation continued. Later that night however, I asked a brother who was sitting next to me about the comment. "He actually drinks a lot of mornings, we're pretty sure he's an alcoholic," he said nonchalantly.
This was not the first time I had heard this word thrown around brazenly, but I didn't really understand the implication of it until I heard people speak about their own substance abuse at the rehabilitation center. Statements like the one I heard that night are worrisome because of what they imply: while the Dartmouth community's response to a person blacking out a few nights per week ranges from apathy to praise, the rest of society has an increasingly negative and intolerant perception of addiction, as evidenced from the testimonials at Valley Vista.
I think the whole notion of alcohol as social currency at Dartmouth is where the real danger lies. Heavy alcohol use can often seem like a requirement for fitting in with the Greek scene. This perception drives extreme alcohol consumption among a broad sector of the student body, and it only seems natural that this excess will lead to dependence for some people. Dependence will not only be harmful for someone's health, but will also be detrimental socially something that people don't seem to recognize as often. While Dartmouth is a great place to spend four years of your life, it's also important to anticipate how life will be after college where the "hard guy" is ostracized rather than revered.
So even though not everyone can hear the voices of Valley Vista, I hope that the administration and the community as a whole will begin to also consider the dangerous problem of alcohol dependence rather than focusing solely on mass student drinking on Friday nights.
