MARY SUE COLEMAN, PhD
Mary Sue Coleman is president of the University of Iowa. The University of Iowa is a grantee of A Matter of Degree: Reducing High-Risk Drinking Among College Students.

“I’ve been president of the University of Iowa for six years. Six months before I started, an 18-year-old fraternity brother died as the result of alcohol poisoning. This was a terrible tragedy that shocked the campus. So, the issue of excessive drinking has long been a concern of mine.
    We call our project Stepping Up and it involves not just the university but the whole community. We’re focusing on sensitizing the community to the secondary effects of alcohol abuse such as vandalism, sexual assault, and disorderly conduct in public. We know how much this affects local business. Basically, we took a page from the fight against big tobacco: Concentrate on the secondary effects.
    In the past five years, I believe that we’ve raised consciousness both on campus and in the community. But, we have a long way to go. One of the things we need to do in the future is reach out to kids when they’re in high school. That’s when excessive drinking starts and it’s when expectations about excessive drinking in college are learned.”

Grantee Section:

• Provide long-term support for innovative institutions
• Build public interest and support
• Establish community-based service and demonstration projects
• Create and communicate new knowledge
• Integrate prevention & treatment strategies into the legal and medical systems
• Develop careers in substance abuse fields
• Return to President's Message

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