UVa’s Casteen unconvinced on lowering drinking age

By Aaron Lee

Published: August 26, 2008

University of Virginia President John T. Casteen III said he’s not convinced that lowering the drinking age to 18 won’t have a negative impact.

His comments came after 128 university and college presidents nationwide were chided about coming under a banner known as the “Amethyst Initiative” that advocates a discussion centered on lowering the legal drinking age from 21.

“I don’t know whether eventually I will sign this initiative or not,” Casteen told a group of incoming first-year students last weekend. “It depends on whether they are able to develop and publish the evidence to prove there’s not a negative difference in the impact on young people. I’m not at this point persuaded that they have all their facts on the table.”

Casteen’s annual talk with first-year students and their parents during move-in weekend routinely touches on alcohol use, said UVa spokeswoman Carol Wood.

“This year, because the Amethyst Initiative has been so prominent in the national news, he felt it was important to let parents know what he was thinking and to ask for their thoughts on the issue as well,” Wood said in an e-mail on Monday.

Casteen could not be reached for additional comment.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving has come out against discussing the change, citing that since the drinking age was raised to 21 in 1984 an estimated 25,000 lives have been saved.

AAA Mid-Atlantic has also come out against discussing a lowered age, while saying the group respected that higher education officials were trying to find ways to educate students about drinking responsibly.

“It is hard to comprehend why intelligent and educated people, who lead institutions of higher learning and are charged with helping make leaders of tomorrow, believe that lowering the drinking age is a good idea,” AAA spokeswoman Martha Mead said in a news release.

Researchers recently released a six-year study that showed UVa students were experiencing fewer consequences — including getting in trouble with police and missing classes — related to drinking.

The study also suggested that students were becoming more educated about their peers’ drinking habits — namely that students don’t drink as much as their peers think, researchers said.

Researchers said the new perceptions were leading to healthier student lifestyles.

According to Amethyst’s Web site, 18 may be a more appropriate legal age for drinking because telling minors to abstain from alcohol has not worked.

In addition, the group argues that at 18 a person is allowed to vote and serve in the military and should be allowed to make mature decisions about drinking alcohol.

Presidents of five Virginia schools are listed as having signed on with the Amethyst Initiative: Hampden-Sydney College, Hollins University, Randolph-Macon College, Sweet Briar College and Washington & Lee University. All five are private schools.

“I’m very interested in what parents, students and others are seeing as this discussion takes shape,” Casteen said over the weekend.