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Nebraska has a long history of alcohol abuse. Self-report surveys of adults, college students consistently place Nebraska in the top five states for alcohol abuse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 1997, the College Alcohol Survey, a national study conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, found that 62.5% of University of Nebraska—Lincoln students engaged in "binge" drinking at least once in a two-week period.
| Binge Drinking among UNL Undergraduates |
| 1997 | 2007 |
| 62.5% |
41% |
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The University was invited to apply for one of ten A Matter of Degree grants from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to address the problem from a comprehensive environmental approach. The NU Directions Campus Community Coalition was formed, and an ambitious strategic plan was developed and implemented.
The effort proved successful, and in 2006, the NU Directions coalition and the Nebraska Prevention Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse were awarded a Model Program grant from the United States Department of Education’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools to replicate the effort across the state of Nebraska.
The two other University of Nebraska campuses, along with all three Nebraska state colleges and seven community colleges, were invited to participate. Presidents and other administrators traveled to Lincoln to learn about the effort and sign letters of commitment to create campus task forces that would eventually join local community coalitions. Thirteen institutions made the commitment and were recognized by Nebraska Governor David Heineman in a special ceremony on March 1, 2006.
Since then, institutional members of the Nebraska Collegiate Consortium formed campus task forces that have participated in extensive training in campus organizing, environmental scanning, strategic planning, and other essential skills related to reducing high-risk drinking. The Nebraska Prevention Center also created a statewide survey of colleges and universities to help track student drinking and related harms.
The Nebraska Collegiate Consortium to Reduce High-Risk Drinking utilizes a comprehensive environmental approach to reducing high-risk drinking.
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