The University of Kansas announced Monday that new students under the age of 22 will be required to complete an online alcohol education course. Students who do not pass the course by set deadlines this fall will not be able to enroll for the spring semester.
This new mandatory two-hour class comes in the wake of two alcohol-related deaths on KU’s campus last spring. Jason Wren, 19, of Littleton, Colo. , was found dead inside the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity after a night of binge drinking. Dalton Hawkins, 18, of Shawnee, died from injuries to his head and chest after falling from the roof of the three-story Watkins Scholarship Hall after drinking alcohol.
According to Marlesa Roney, KU’s vice provost for student success, the class’ purpose is to inform students about the dangers of alcohol consumption.
“It’s really about education, and it helps students learn about the impact of alcohol on their bodies and helps them understand how to make good decisions regarding alcohol,” Roney said.
Sounds like a good idea.
But only time will tell what kind of impact this information will have on students’ choices and behaviors during their plus or minus four years on campus.
Will getting this information within the first weeks of this brand-new life of independence and discovery really make the desired impact? Again, only time will tell.
But what is certain, the most effective education on the use, abuse and deadly dangers of alcohol starts at home — long before an 18 year old moves into a dormitory, apartment, fraternity, sorority or scholarship hall.
If values and responsible behavior aren’t taught there, odds are a simple online class won’t teach them either.
Good for KU for doing something proactive to address a serious problem on most college campuses around the nation. But may we not be foolish enough to consider it a substitute for the invaluable education that happens at home, years before college students enroll.
Ashley Knecht Walker
Projects editor