Drinks are served at McPhail’s, a bar in the lower level of Slavin Center on the PC campus.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

PROVIDENCE — Providence College, acknowledging that it has a serious problem with binge drinking, is developing a campaign to curtail alcohol abuse — an initiative that aims to transform the culture of the small Dominican college known for its strong academics and athletics.

While alcohol abuse by college students is a national issue, a report released last week by PC found that excessive drinking pervades the college and causes myriad other problems including accidents, physical attacks and sexual assault.

PC’s president, the Rev. Brian J. Shanley, commissioned the report last year and posted it on the college Web site last week. He said that while he was aware it would stir controversy, he felt the problem was so far-reaching it needed to be discussed and dealt with publicly.

The report used data from a survey conducted last year that was answered by 1,079 freshmen and sophomores at PC. The survey found that 76 percent of respondents got drunk at least once in the previous month. Half the students reported they “binge drink” three or more times within a two-week period. Binge drinking is defined as consuming four drinks by women and five drinks by men. Sixty-three percent said that when they consume alcohol, they usually have more than five drinks. More than half the respondents said they had used fake identification to obtain alcohol.

Since the fall semester, 51 students from Providence College have been taken to hospitals as a result of drinking alcohol, the report said. Forty-three of those students were freshmen and sophomores.

“I was a little bit shocked,” Father Shanley said of the data. “I just hadn’t wanted to believe the problem was as serious as it was. This has been a stern wake-up call for me, that yes, we do have this problem. And I think this is the first time we are facing it head on, transparently.”

Forty percent of the survey respondents said they missed a class after a night of heavy drinking; 17 percent said they missed a whole day of classes. Twenty-four percent said they had been hurt or injured and 21 percent had been physically assaulted or involved in a fight. A quarter of students said they had unplanned sexual activity after drinking and nearly 6 percent said they had been sexually assaulted.

THE 29-PAGE REPORT was issued by the Committee on Campus Culture, Conduct and Civility, which Father Shanley formed shortly after taking over as president two years ago.

“We studied the surveys and got a snapshot of the problem,” said Michael O’Neill, a philosophy professor who served on the 14-member committee comprising administrators, faculty and one student. “What we saw was reflective of the state of the problem nationally, but it was exacerbated at PC, because of a confluence of factors.”

National studies have shown that between 40 percent and 45 percent of students 18 to 24 years old say they binge drink. But colleges with high numbers of athletes, fraternities and sororities tend to have higher rates of binge drinking — as do schools in the Northeast.

According to the PC report, other factors that might contribute to the college’s high alcohol consumption and abuse are a high percentage of students living in residence halls that house legal age and underage students, a lack of racial and ethnic diversity, and students who have a lot of unstructured time.

In addition, the report notes that the college is located near 9 liquor stores and 27 bars — including one on campus.

“Providence College students drink more alcohol, more often and more consistently than one might hope and, as a result, suffer many of the negative consequences that follow in its wake,” the report stated.

Nationally, binge drinking causes about 1,700 deaths each year, as well as 700,000 physical assaults, 600,000 injuries and 97,000 sexual assaults and rapes, according to a national study of college students ages 18 to 24.

ONE OF THE KEY ELEMENTS of PC’s initiative is an effort to change student drinking habits and the campus environment. The report does not include specific recommendations. College officials say they first want input from faculty, staff and students this spring, and plan to develop policies and programs for next fall.

But transforming PC’s culture will be difficult, said O’Neill.

“Students have definite expectations of what their college experience will be and drinking is included in that,” O’Neill said. “Students come to think of drinking not as a rebellion but as normative behavior and a ritual of social bonding.”

Michelle Palermino, a member of PC’s Student Congress and the sole student member of the committee, agrees excessive drinking is commonplace at PC.

“I think a lot of incoming freshmen come in and are surprised at first, but then say, ‘Oh, that’s normal and I should have been prepared for that,’ ” she said.

At the same time, students have approached Palermino since the report was released, saying they are relieved the college is focusing on this issue. “Students have come up to me and said they are glad the administration is acknowledging the problem,” she said. “A huge percentage of students on campus know it goes on but they also know it needs to be changed.”

In building an alcohol-abuse policy, the Committee on Campus Culture, Conduct and Civility is studying current programs while also looking at the “best practices” of peer institutions. The report also calls for a campus-wide discussion this semester on the problem. Students, faculty and staff are invited to voice their concerns and ideas for solutions in public forums scheduled next month, in small group discussions and in online discussion groups.

“I think it’s fantastic the report is encompassing our entire community,” Palermino said. “That’s the reason I came to PC. The first time I stepped on campus, I felt I was a part of something. So it’s great to be a part of this.”

The report suggests several topics for discussion including: banning alcohol on campus, offering classes on Saturdays to reduce students’ free time, requiring more quizzes and tests on Fridays, hiring more resident assistants for the dormitories and allowing only juniors and seniors to become RAs, creating alcohol-free residence halls and offering more alcohol-free events and programs.

AS PROVIDENCE COLLEGE begins to confront alcohol abuse on its campus, it can look to the University of Rhode Island, which has spent the last decade confronting the issue.

Since the mid-1990s, the university has beefed up alcohol policies and enforced disciplinary measures, such as fines, suspensions and counseling. The university pushed for several new state laws that required the registration of beer kegs and cracked down on drunken driving. URI began working with the South Kingstown and Narragansett police, liquor store and bar owners and the neighbors of students living off campus to prevent underage drinking and out-of-control parties. The university and the local communities cracked down on drunken driving. Alcohol was prohibited at all campus events, including sports.

URI officials say their efforts have paid off. In a Harvard College Alcohol Survey in 1993, 67 percent of URI students reported binge drinking within the previous two weeks. Subsequent URI surveys have found those numbers decreasing, from 53.4 percent in 1999 to 44 percent in 2005. The police have also reported a decrease in the number of houses with nuisance and noise complaints.

URI officials say a comprehensive approach that focuses on individual students, the campus and the greater community is needed to reduce alcohol abuse.

“This is an ongoing battle that will probably not be won in our lifetime,” said Fran Cohen, URI’s dean of students. “But we have found there is a surprising level of student support for policy enforcement. Change happens very slowly and one size does not fit all. Every school has to adapt their policies to their environment.”

It’s been an uphill struggle. When Robert L. Carothers became URI’s president in 1991, the university was known as a premier party school, topping The Princeton Review’s list in 1993, 1994 and 1995.

A problem with drinking during commencement in 1991 forced URI to put out trash bins for bottles and containers the following year. In 1992, a female student who was raped at a frat party won an $800,000 judgment against the university. URI also forfeited a football game in the early 1990s after 21 players were suspended for drinking. Several homecoming celebrations were marred by incidences of alcohol poisoning.

In 2004, Carothers won a national award for URI’s tough alcohol policies. The university also conducts research on substance abuse and received $5.6 million in federal financing to reduce alcohol abuse among college students in 2003.

“One of the things that is the most difficult to overcome, at first, is a sense of denial. No one wants to say it’s happening on our campus,” said Carothers, who is a member of the Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Prevention Presidential Leadership Group. “In our case, everyone already knew it, so we had to acknowledge we had a problem and deal with it.”

Carothers praised Father Shanley for addressing the issue.

“Colleges and universities are afraid of the consequences of taking these actions, afraid of what alumni will say, of what students will say,” Carothers said. “In my experience, in a relatively short period of time, people move in and support you. People inevitably support acts of courage.”

To see a copy of the PC alcohol report, visit www.providence.edu/alcoholabuse

jjordan@projo.com