<p>CP says that alcohol abuse is a serious problem at Whitman. How far is it correct? Relative isolation, harsh winters, rash of allergies in fall & spring and the alleged alcoholism-omg,scary for a parent! Any thoughts from boarders.</p>
<p>My son is in his second year. Campus community seems very healthy to me and I am not aware of allergies, weather or excessive alcohol being any significant problem--especially relative to other comparable campus settings. The CP reports are notoriously biased by who responds so I would not judge any school by those alone. I have been very happy with my son's experience to date and would encourage you to look way beyond CP before you make any judgments about a school.</p>
<p>My daughter is also a sophmore. She and her friends don't drink and have other social things to do. I will say the first week freshmen year was a little rough for her until she found friends on her freshmen hall who did not drink.</p>
<p>At every college in this country students encounter drugs and alcohol and have to learn to navigate the pitfalls of both, with varying success. From everything my daughter tells me--and she's a sophomore--there is plenty of both at Whitman, but not significantly more or less than anywhere else. There also seems to be a general sense of well-being on campus and she does not feel pressured in any way to drink or smoke pot. I believe that she does both, in moderation. The hardest thing for her to manage was finding a good balance between social activities and work. It wasn't about heavy partying, it was just that there were lots of things she wanted to do and lots of studying she needed to get done. Getting enough sleep her first year was her biggest issue. I get the feeling there is a wide variety of kids at this school doing all kinds of different things and that the odds are highly in favor of finding a good group of supportive like-minded friends.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd put in my two cents as a current Whitman freshman: I think alcohol is a serious problem here at Whitman. It seems that anybody can get it, and the majority of night life on the weekends is centered around it. Sure there are activities such as live music Friday nights from 9-11, but after that, people are off to party. There are occasional school-sponsored dances and other events that are of course "dry", but the drunk kids always end up dancing there too. For a large number of Whitman students, possibly the majority, to party means to drink.</p>
<p>As a non-drinker, this really bothers me. I feel like there is nothing to do on weekend nights because it's either get drunk/party (they're interchangeable) or be bored and, in worst-case scenarios, resort to homework. You can only watch so many movies or play so many board games before they grow old. I find myself dying to get off campus on the weekends, and have found myself so bored that I find a trip to Walmart exhilarating, even if I don't buy anything. I wish we could learn to party without alcohol here.</p>
<p>Most disgusting is seeing some of the kids on (huge) diversity scholarships puking their brains out while some of us non-diverse (synonymous with Cacausian) students (many without scholarships) work very hard and have trouble finding entertainment. The whole diversity topic is a whole other issue at Whitman for another post, but seeing "diverse" students act irresponsibly and yet get pampered by the college disgusts me.</p>
<p>I have encountered peer pressure to drink and to smoke marijuana and am pretty much fed up with it here. In fact I'm considering transferring to one of Whitman's top competitor schools so that in addition to the upgrade in academics, I can also be home during the weekends if I get bored at school</p>
<p>Finally, for some concrete evidence of Whitman's alcohol problem, Jewett Hall has essentially been put under a complete alcohol and party ban and is now considered "dry". The other freshman hall on campus has been warned to shape up or it too will become "dry".Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that consumption of alcohol for people under 21 years of age is illegal in Washington? Because nobody at Whitman seems to know it or care.</p>
<p>Hope this gives you an inside view that the college probably does not want anybody to see, but I figure I'd voice my disgust somewhere because it's constantly poisoning my experience here. Whether or not Whitman students' alcohol consumption and abuse is higher or lower compared to other schools, this is still a problem.</p>
<p>If I see another puddle of bathroom puke, I might lose it completely.</p>
<p>I was just wondering...how opposed to alcohol are you? In other words, I dont mean to offend, but are you exaggerating at all? I'm going to Whitman as a freshman next year, and the idea of excessive amounts of alcohol concerns me. I'm not staunch on it, but I'm not a hard-core party person either. I was already a little concerned by Walla Walla's isolation, i.e., what is there if not campus?? But if campus is just a party pit, then what?</p>
<p>I can't speak to this from a student's point of view, but as a parent of a current junior who isn't much of a drinker. I know there were some frats and a couple of dorm floors that had a drinking reputation, but he found lots of friends who didn't drink. I don't know if he just got lucky with his dorm placement, but he never mentioned it as a problem, more as an amusement of seeing someone swaying down the hall. The non drinkers find each other fairly quickly. I guess I don't know how prevelant drinking is on campus, but I know that he wouldn't have been happy in a real soggy situation and he just loves Whitman.</p>
<p>I'm not opposed to alcohol itself. If people want to drink alcohol legally and responsibly, great, I'm not calling for prohibition. But at Whitman, students who can't legally drink not only drink but worse, abuse alcohol. Drinking is practically a sport here on the weekends; my friends literally declare that they will get "black out" drunk this night or that. This isn't just social drinking, this is substance abuse. I've had to take friends to the health center on campus because they've gotten severely drunk and hurt themselves or gotten extremely sick. I'm not against alcohol--I'm against minors abusing it irresponsibly.</p>
<p>I have multiple examples to back up the claims I made in my last post, and I'm not exaggerating. I actually wish I could be.</p>
<p>As to your question about Whitman's isolation: I definitely think that Whitman's small size and isolation have turned drinking into an activity instead of a social aide. To be fair to Whitman, the school puts on many activities, dances, speeches, musical performances, etc. over the weekends, but they're all over by 11PM, just when the parties begin. Combine this with the fact that many of Walla Walla's businesses close early, there is little to do off campus on weekend nights (aside from bowling, watching movies at the expensive theater, or going to Walmart). And party-going students don't want to do homework Friday and Saturday night, although sometimes they do. So, what is there to do? Party and drink. On weekend nights, you could describe it as a "party pit".</p>
<p>Another factor in this situation is that the college has a very lax alcohol policy; in the residence halls, we can have and consume alcohol as long as it's in our rooms behind closed doors, not in public spaces. Now I think this is based on a good judgment by the college; they realize that if students are not allowed to drink on campus, they'll go to drink off campus and potentially disturb and endanger the community (if they drive), so it's safer to allow kids to stay on campus. But this also sends students the message, hey--it's okay to drink (as long as it's in private). That's great, but it doesn't keep students' health in mind, especially when students are intoxicating themselves to the point of alcohol poisoning or nausea. It's dangerous for those students, and it's disgusting for students who don't drink to find others' vomit in bathrooms or lounges.</p>
<p>Now keep in mind that most large parties (and drinking) happen at the fraternities and other off-campus houses, so the residence halls are fairly calm weekend nights. There are still some parties and drinking in the residence halls (in students' rooms), but the majority happens away. But then the drunk kids come back to the hall, and get sick or cause problems for others.</p>
<p>I guess I feel that overall the drinking is excessive, and I worry about the dangers it poses for students who abuse alcohol. I of course have found ways to avoid the parties or drinking, but it is still all around you, even if you don't partake in it.</p>
<p>It's definitely true that one can find friends who don't drink, as I have. We have fun together and do normal things like watching movies, walking around downtown, going out to eat, etc. It just gets old when a large part of campus culture seems to revolve around drinking.</p>
<p>I've found myself reduced to the same decision each weekend: do I hang out with my friends and try to fight off the boredom, or do I drink/party? And since I don't drink, I always end up with my non-drinking friends... The problem is that it's hard to keep entertained.</p>
<p>I'm not sure which dorm you are in xjac, but my child is a frosh at Whitman, doesn't drink - doesn't live in Jewitt - and has had no problem both avoiding alcohol/party pressure and having plenty of entertainment. Lots of friends of both genders, very active dorm section, and having alot of fun absent a party scene. Since reading your post I called to ask, and was told my child has never seen any throw--up either in the dorm or in the bathroom, but did accompany one friend from a frat party to the health center this year. Hasn't been to another frat party.
Activities cited: making videos, cooking, dress-up parties (costumes), late night and wee-hours outdoor games - often with glow in the dark sports equipment,,,,,
Sorry about your unhappiness, but I would hate for others on the board to think Whitman is a big downer unless you drink.
Re: alcohol poisoning, you can go online and find statistics for how many students are treated each year - stats for Whitman are very low.</p>
<p>My word, I have to WORK to be bored at Whitman, and I signed up for the proposed substance free section for next year's housing. Your experience is completely contrary to mine.</p>
<p>Finnegar -- I'd like to hear more from you on this topic. I'm a transfer student from a large college town, so I already have seen that every college has students with alcohol issues, and it doesn't faze me. But you said you have to "work" to be bored at Whitman, which is really encouraging-- I have been worried about the "nothing to do" aspect. What do you do on weekends? I will be involved in theatre and the debate team. Are those kids pretty busy in general? Thanks!</p>
<p>Theatre AND Debate? Yes, certainly. One of my friends is on the debate team, he has little time for anything else, with all the practices/research/travel/etc he is required to do. The drama folks are also very busy, we have around 7-8 "official" shows a year (Current Season: <a href="http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/season/index.html)%5B/url%5D">http://www.whitman.edu/theatre/season/index.html)</a>, and plenty more one acts, contests, "lunch boxes" (quick shows over lunch) and so on. I'm running the light board for As You Like It, and will be giving up at least four hours a day for the next week until opening night. The actors have been working on it for weeks.</p>
<p>I offer these as partial counters to the nothing going on stereotype:</p>
<p>WebEvent:</a> Two Weeks starting on April 20, 2008</p>
<p>Student</a> Events Calendar</p>
<p>As for me, personally, weekends are time to recharge: sleep in, get some work done, and decompress from the week that just ended. We have live music every Friday night, and now that we're in the better weather lots of rugby/lacrosse/frisbee games going on right outside my window. This particular weekend we've got the Renaissance Faire, a rock climbing competition and a couple of other things I'll be missing because I'm BUSY WITH ALL THE STUFF I DO.</p>
<p>Hey, I'll actually be going to see As You Like It on May 4th! I'm really excited and hopeful that Whitman holds up to its reputation of having excellent theatre. The theatre program at my current school is amazing, but the academics are not, so that's why I'm transferring. I'll be sure to notice your mad lights skillz. :) Thanks for the response!!</p>
<p>Alcohol is rampant on Whitman College, but I don't believe that it is a problem.</p>
<p>Unless your kid goes to BYU, there's gonna be lots of booze. It's college, and that's part of the bargain. </p>
<p>On the good side, Whitman is great about offering kids a safe place to drink. The health center is in the center of campus, and will accept any student, at any time, "no questions asked." If you show up at the health center a little too drunk, you won't get arrested for an MIP. (This means students are much more likely to use this facility.)</p>
<p>Additionally, because of the small campus size, drunk driving is pretty much a non-issue. Everyone just walks to parties. In my four years at Whitman, I never once drove to a party.</p>
<p>If you and your family, AND your daughter are dead-set against alcohol, then you should look further into this issue. But if you are ok with moderate, safe use, then "drinking at Whitman" is a non-issue.</p>
<p>Have to weigh in on this one...It sounds like the OP has made some poor friend choices or had an unlucky dorm draw. I know a good number of freshmen who don't drink and didn't get caught up in a big party scene. As far as boredom is concerned, between school-sponsored events and informal, imaginative outings dreamed up by students themselves, it is absolutely essential to responsibly manage time in order to keep up with the coursework. Of course, there are always those lacking in maturity or less engaged in academic work, who may exert pressure on the weak-willed. I wouldn't say they are in the majority.</p>
<p>As far as I can tell, whitmanalum is correct: alcohol IS rampant at Whitman. However, as far as I can tell alcohol is rampant at nearly EVERY college -- every college my daughter visited, and every college attended by her friends and other classmates in her graduating class. To think otherwise is to bury your head in the sand. </p>
<p>No matter how well you know your child, and how open and honest your relationship is -- you really don't know for sure if and how much your child is drinking at college. I've talked to many parents of friends of my daughter who don't think their kids drink at all -- and I've seen the photos that show otherwise. I think it's natural for kids to downplay this to parents...</p>
<p>If prior to college a student has not been exposed to a social scene that involved drinking and/or not had the opportunity to start to work out for themselves how they are going to manage the presence of alcohol, they are going to have to start working it out fast at college -- starting the night of the day the parents leave the campus. </p>
<p>Some kids are just going to be OK with this -- whether or not they drink, they will figure it out (and if they do drink, they won't get themselves into serious trouble more than once). Other kids -- again whether they drink or not -- are going to really struggle with it. For the OP, it sounds like it has tainted his entire experience at Whitman, which is unfortunate. But I don't think it's Whitman. At a bigger school, maybe you could insulate yourself from it more than at a smaller school. But it is everywhere. And what's the saying: Wherever you go, there you are.</p>
<p>There's alcohol and drinking at nearly all schools. But statistically, there's more at rural residential schools which are not religiously affiliated, which are whiter than average, whose students are richer than average, and which have a substantial fraternity presence. (This is even more true at schools with a big varsity sports culture, which doesn't apply to Whitman.)</p>
<p>If you want to go to a school with less alcohol, don't pick a school with all those attributes.</p>