Student Alcohol Violations, Addictions on the Rise

Photo by Katie Magruder; photo illustration by Shivani Kanji and Samantha Battersby/The Minaret

This semester alone, campus security has responded to over 200 incidents involving alcohol violations. Ranging from underage possession of alcoholic beverages and containers of alcohol in “dry” dorms to students passed out in rooms, intoxication in public areas and alcohol-related medical emergencies, these cases, usually involving more than one student, result in judicial referrals of the students involved.

In some instances, evaluation of these students through mandated assessments from the Office of Student Conduct reveals that an alcohol violation is a sign of a more deeply rooted problem: addiction. While the Office of Student Conduct works closely with the campus wellness center, addressing alcoholism and other addictions on UT’s campus is a complicated process and due to a lack of resources is a continued challenge.

Associate Dean of Wellness Gina Firth has been at the University of Tampa since 2006 and has, during that time, built the university’s alcohol addiction program from the ground up. Firth described approaching an issue like alcoholism on college campuses as a “daunting” task, and she will be the first to admit that many more services need to be provided on campus in order to fully address the growing problem.

“The drinking habits of this year’s freshman class are completely different than classes five years ago,” Firth said. A changing trend among college campuses is the way in which students are drinking. The popularity of pre-gaming and drinking large quantities of shots in a short period of time are what worry Firth. She explained that most students don’t realize that drinking so much in such short time periods can escalate the addiction process, especially in women. “Women develop addiction much quicker than men, and this is a surefire way to get there fast,” she said.

When a student receives a judicial referral for an alcohol violation, he or she is given an assessment to determine the extent of his or her alcohol abuse problem. However, a student does not have to be in trouble to have an assessment. Some students Firth sees come to her after recognizing a problem in themselves and taking a self-assessment questionnaire available on the wellness page of UT’s website. However, a problem arises after students have taken this first step and they ask, “What now?”

“At the moment, I am the ‘what now,’” Firth said. Though she has been trained in the role of therapeutic treatment, education and counseling, this is not her job on campus. She explained that counselors currently employed by UT are not addiction specialists, nor is the counseling program designed or equipped to handle substance abuse issues, so an obvious void is left in the treatment of alcohol abuse on campus.

Firth finds herself taking on every student of concern that is sent to the wellness center for signs of alcohol abuse. She evaluates each one and then directs them to the resources currently available on campus and in the community.

“I wish we had somebody dedicated to the ‘what now,’” she said. “The needs of the university are many and everybody has priorities. My priority is to get a dedicated substance abuse employee on campus to meet the needs of the students.”

The need for UT employed substance abuse counselors has become even more prominent this year. “Substance abuse violations have dramatically increased on campus this year,” Firth said.

Because UT does not have an on-campus substance abuse staff, it turns to the community to bring treatment resources to students. Firth works with Operation PAR, a Florida organization providing resources to combat addiction. After receiving initial evaluation, the majority of the students Firth sees are referred to Operation PAR for an assessment intervention program called The Young Adult Prevention Program. The problem UT faces today is that Operation PAR has lost much of its funding. While therapists used to be available much more often on campus, a PAR therapist is now only on campus 10 hours a week. Because UT does not have a budget for substance abuse services and a PAR therapist is so rarely available, student waitlists for sessions have already been extended into next semester. Another community partner that works with students is Dr. David Thomas and Tamara Thomas. Students with more problematic alcohol or other drug problems are referred to this team of addiction therapists. Space has been provided in the University Counseling Center for appointments which is paid for through billing of student insurance and co-pays.

“My dream would be that we had a full time substance abuse therapist that was available to meet with students, work with them one on one, and refer them to treatment as necessary,” Firth said. “We are so grateful to our community partners. They have been a tremendous resource, however the logistics of community partnerships, such as funding, scheduling and quality control are a challenge. I would like to see us bring someone in here that we could work with daily.”

While UT’s wellness center faces many barriers in providing alcohol abuse treatment to its students, Firth said that spreading awareness and education of preventative practices is an action that is doable at this time.

“I would love to see students in recovery speak up more and put a face to this issue, to encourage more students to talk about this growing problem,” she said. “People need to recognize the incredible addictive potential of alcohol and they have to change their cavalier attitude about it being ‘no big deal.’”

UT’s student-based support group, the 12-step Alcoholics Anonymous is currently one of the largest on-campus resources for students in recovery. There is also an Al Anon group on campus providing support for, as Firth said, “People who love people who are addicts.” The group provides support for the friends, family and loved ones of those struggling with an alcohol addiction.

Until more resources are available to students on campus, these groups are one of the few places that students can turn to for support. “I’m hoping to see more students take advantage of support groups on campus and create more discussions across campus on the effects of alcohol abuse,” she said. The most important thing students can do at this point, Firth said, is to remove the stigma behind reaching out for support and treatment for dependency. “It’s very daunting for someone who is 19-years-old to face something like alcoholism, but addiction is progressive and gets worse over time. If someone is experiencing a problem now and does not seek treatment, the addiction is going to get worse, and so will the consequences,” she said.

For more information about campus resources, AA and Al Anon, contact Gina Firth at 813-257-1777.

Channing Hailey can be reached at minaret.news@gmail.com.