EDITOR’S NOTE: The Chronicle/NCClinked staff is introducing a special project called “The Drinking Culture.“ Throughout the year, we will be exploring the drinking culture at our small, private campus. The Chronicle will investigate on and off-campus drinking, some reasons for the College’s drinking policies, and how NCC’s culture compares to larger universities.
As a small private college, North Central doesn’t allow such on-campus events as hosting an annual Beer Olympics in the middle of the quad. However, there exists a culture of drinking on this campus.
Trends change among campuses from drinking staples to binge drinking and showing up to class drunk or hungover. Here we have an assortment of facts about today’s alcohol trends among the typical college campus:
- 4 out of 5 students drink alcohol, no matter if they’re legal or underage – according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
- 50 percent of students who drink alcohol consume it through binge drinking, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
- 60 percent of students ages 18-22 drink alcohol in a typical month, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
- 2 out of 3 of those students engage in binge drinking during the same timeframe, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
- Tulane University, located in New Orleans, La., is currently the #1 party school in the United States for 2016, according to Niche.
- Students spend more money on alcohol than textbooks, according to a recent PBS report.
There is always another “new thing” when it comes to drinking on college campuses. It’s no surprise that we will see freshmen at parties or upperclassmen having get-togethers in their apartments. Which leads to the question: What kind of drinks do we expect at parties? Based on price, popularity and potency, Buzzfeed put together a list in 2013 of alcoholic beverages consumed by students which includes:
- Past Blue Ribbon beer
- Jungle Juice
- Charles Shaw “Two-Buck Chuck” wine
- Franzia wine
- Bacardi 151 proof rum
- Mixed drinks (rum and Coke, cranberry vodka, screwdriver)
- Jose Cuervo tequila
- Smirnoff flavored vodka
- Burnett’s flavored vodka
- Grey Goose vodka
To those who do not drink these beverages, you’re not alone. There are many students — among fraternities, sororities and athlete houses, for example — who take the time to put more creativity into entertaining their guests. One example is alcohol-infused food and candy like watermelon, ice cream and your typical gummy bears. The reason is obvious: when you’re drunk, you’re hungry. All the time. So, while you are still getting your alcohol fix after a stressful week, you’re also taking in whatever calories are in the food.
Other beverages are shots with X-rated names. The Buttery Nipple, the Dirty Girl Scout, the Red-Headed Slut: the names continue to be more comical with more ingredients that guarantee a messed-up night. More or less, those kinds of drinks are saved for holidays like Halloween and New Year’s.
COMING UP NEXT: The Chronicle will also look into specific trends that have developed across college campuses. Common trends include: whether colleges continue to uphold a keg culture, drinking staples among various age groups, and pre-drinking in order to save money at the bars.
