Numerous presidents and chancellors of America’s leading universities and colleges have made a call to action on what they perceive as a “culture of dangerous, clandestine binge drinking” on and off campus.
The Amethyst Initiative, launched in July 2008, is a coalition of 129 chancellors and presidents that have signed onto a public statement calling for the public and elected officials “to support an informed and dispassionate public debate over the effects of the 21-year-old drinking age.”
Led by John McCardell, former President of Middlebury College, supporters of the initiative include private universities such as Duke, Dartmouth, Tufts and Johns Hopkins, and public schools including Ohio State, University of Massachusetts and the University of Maryland.
Proponents of lowering the drinking age say 18-year-olds are old enough to make important decisions including the right to vote, sign contracts and join the military, so they should be allowed to drink.
“The dialogue generated by this issue is worthwhile and will hopefully contribute to reducing excessive use and abuse of alcohol,” said James Meznek, chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District. Meznek along with the presidents of Oxnard, Ventura and Moorpark College, all declined to sign the initiative.
Each state under the 10th Amendment has the authority to set its own guidelines on the age at which an individual can purchase and possess alcohol. After the passage of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, any state that allows alcohol to anyone under 21 is penalized with a ten percent decrease in annual federal highway funds.
The law will be up for reauthorization this coming year. McCardell is hoping to see it changed so that states can decide for themselves the best drinking age policy, without the fear of losing federal money.
The Amethyst Initiative questions the orthodoxy of the policy whether states with a “ten percent highway fund ‘incentive’ encourages or inhibits that debate.”
Mothers Against Drunk Driving have led the criticism, claiming the presidents are seeking to put the burden of enforcing the law on high school administrators. Furthermore, MADD has called the initiative a “misguided” effort that will “confuse the public on the effectiveness” of the 21-year-age limit.
The harsh criticism has caused two signatories to withdraw their support; Robert Franklin of Morehouse College and Kendall Blanchard of Georgia Southwestern State.
Regardless of whether the initiative ever reaches full fruition, the issue has provoked conversation and debate across all campuses and dinner tables.
“The twenty-one year old drinking age doesn’t solve any problems. People disregard it all the time,” said Louis Hernandez, 20, a biology major who pointed to his fake identification card before disappearing with the rest of the crowd.
