Drug and alcohol use at Smith

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>The following was posted on a Hampshire College thread:</p>

<p>"i have seen more shocking drunken behavior from Mt. Holyoke and Smith College students than from anyone in my four years at Hampshire. Perhaps drug use is not as prevalent, but I can recall on weekday nights buses of wasted Mohos and Smithies pouring onto campus with the poor girls barely coherent and throwing themselves at Hampshire guys. I feel bad for those women, having had some experience in a single sex environment myself I can understand how difficult it is to have a normal social life. However, it is clear that both these schools have a social environment that encourages the use of alcohol as a crutch to participate in social events and to hang with the opposite sex. just sayin."</p>

<p>I find the posters comment "it is clear that both these schools have a social environment that encourages the use of alcohol as a crutch to participate in social events and to hang with the opposite sex." offensive and I have nothing to do with Smith or MHC. It's as if poster is saying women can't have a "normal" social life without men!</p>

<p>Would like to hear other opinions.</p>

2

<p>Well, clearly this person was being intentionally inflammatory. Yes, Smith students drink, though not on the scale or with the frequency of many/most other colleges. And yes, they tend to drink before going to parties on or off campus, but that has less to do with their social skills and more to do with both the isolation of the local campuses and the fairly strict policies both at Smith and on other campuses regarding underage drinking. People who are underage and want to drink have to do so before they leave their rooms/houses, and unfortunately many try to “stock up” for the night or at least for the long bus ride. People who are of age and want to drink often don’t have access to drinks at the event on the local campus (because of the rules surrounding alcohol and parties at a lot of these campuses and the cost, most events forgo serving alcohol.) or the drinks that are there are terrible swill from some cheap keg. So they drink before they go out so they can drink their own liquor which is cheaper and usually better quality. </p>

<p>And frankly, given the rampant drug use at Hampshire, which I found fairly shocking and caused me to usually avoid Hampshire as an off campus social choice, I don’t think they should be criticizing others and discussing who does and does not use substances as a crutch.</p>

3

<p>Two points - </p>

<p>1) It seems like that poster (I haven’t checked out the thread or his/her other posts, so based solely on the quote you’ve provided) has issues both with single-sex education in general and with these two women’s colleges specifically. How “difficult it is to have a normal social life” at a women’s college bothers me tremendously, because this poster seems to associate only drinking and dating/hooking up as “normal social life.”</p>

<p>This poster also is clearly exaggerating, and that makes the rest of his/her point, if you can call it that, even less founded. Are there students at Smith (and, I’m sure, at MoHo) who choose to spend some of their free time drinking and/or going to the other colleges to meet met? Absolutely. Do “buses of wasted Mohos and Smithies” “throw themselves at Hampshire guys” “on weekday nights”? No.</p>

<p>Even those Smithies who like partying at other campuses tend to do it safely and reasonably; no one would go on a weekday night because we have this little thing called work to do and because there are, in fact, plenty of things going on on-campus as well - practices, rehearsals, club meetings, movie screenings, lectures, etc. And in my experience, most Smithies who go off-campus on the weekends make fairly reasonable decisions about alcohol; plenty of them get drunk, sure, but realistically speaking you’re not going to have “buses” of young women “barely coherent” enough to just “throw” themselves at guys.</p>

<p>2) In my personal experience, no, Smith does not “have a social environment that encourages the use of alcohol as a crutch of participate in social events.” Again, there are certainly people who choose to drink, and they do so for a number of reasons, but according to polls the number who binge drink or engage in other unsafe activities involving alcohol is smaller than at other colleges. There is also no pressure to drink, even at events where most people are drinking. And as I mentioned before, there are plenty of social experiences that do not involve alcohol - sports, music/theatre/dance performances, clubs, lectures, just sitting around in your friend’s room watching movies or playing board games.</p>

<p>I find that most Smithies drink occasionally but not dangerously, and that most people who drink don’t spend all, or even most, of their weekend nights getting drunk. There are other things to do, you know, and most of them are pretty fun sober.</p>

4

<p>Alcohol & drug abuse are far less prevalent at Smith than the overwhelming majority of co-ed institutions. (As is sexual harassment.) The place isn’t a convent but neither is it a likely locale for “Girls Gone Wild.” Where is Mini when you need him, to provide the stats?</p>

<p>Hampshire’s reputation for drug use is consistently “up there” and there’s a recurring note about Hampshire being a “bathing optional” college.</p>

5

<p>The orderly Hampshire crew was just hanging out, playing Life and sucking on hard candies when all the sudden… SMITH AND HOLYOKE GIRLS. Busloads! Five busloads. Girls drunk and roving, crazy due to their failing “womyn’s institution” and starved for male touch.
The Hampshire girls nodded disapprovingly.</p>

6

<p>I would note that the author of the post in question has a user name that implies a graduation from Hampshire in 1987. That’s a looong time ago in terms of how people partied. Even through the haze of time, the post is no doubt hyperbolic. I’d trust the posters here regarding the party atmosphere at Smith & Mt. Holyoke.</p>

7

<p>There is national data on drug and alcohol use at women’s colleges, and, about 8 years ago, from Smith in particular. It is about 45% lower (both drugs and alcohol) than most of the co-ed LACs (Amherst, Wesleyan. etc. - and 50% or more lower than some of them - Carleton/Williams). ER visits are a tiny fraction of what they are at other schools.</p>

<p>And yes, you will find both if you look for it.</p>