Ann Arbor, Michigan -- It’s Friday night, and students in the University of Michigan’s East Quad dormitory are popping open their first beers of the weekend. Bruce Springsteen’s “Thunder Road” blares from someone’s stereo as the students talk about the parties they plan to go to.
On the dorm’s second-floor corridor, however, no alcohol is in sight, and about a half-dozen people are debating whether to go to a movie. Whatever they do, beer will not be part of their weekend plans.
The students on the corridor, which is known as Hamlin Hall, are among 1,200 undergraduates at Michigan who are living in “substance free” rooms in the campus’s 12 dormitories this year. They promised in their housing applications not to drink, smoke, or use drugs while in their rooms or elsewhere on the halls. About 100 of the 1,000 students who live in East Quad are part of Hamlin Hall’s substance-free program. The majority are freshmen, but some upperclassmen live there, too.
“I had heard horror stories about the dorms -- people throwing up in the halls and being really loud,” says Megan Ridley, a freshman. “I wanted a quiet place where I would be able to study and sleep. It’s pretty mellow here.”
For the most part, the rooms on Hamlin Hall look like any others on the campus. In some, chairs are brimming with dirty laundry, spiral notebooks, and textbooks; in others, colorful posters mocking politicians adorn the walls. But unlike many dorm rooms, these don’t display beer mugs, wine bottles, or shot glasses.
Michigan started offering students the option of living in substance-free rooms in 1989, as did the 12 other public four-year institutions in the state. The institutions agreed to offer the housing option after a Michigan legislator introduced a bill that would have required them to do so.
Other institutions that allow students to choose substance-free housing include Colorado State University, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Holy Cross College, the University of Denver, and the University of Wisconsin-Stout.
Although most students who live in college dormitories are under 21 and cannot drink legally, administrators acknowledge that many drink anyway. The officials say they want to give students who don’t drink an opportunity to socialize with others who share their interests and values.
In some cases, administrators say, students’ parents sign them up for the substance-free dormitories. But many students say they have been influenced by their high-schools’ anti-drug and anti-alcohol campaigns and want to be sure that their social life at college does not interfere with their studies. In addition, many say, they are becoming increasingly health-conscious -- exercising more and abstaining from alcohol, drugs, and tobacco.
Says Jay Mazumdar, a Michigan freshman: “Smoking isn’t cool anymore, and it’s becoming more acceptable to say, `I don’t drink.’ One day, alcohol will be thought of the way smoking is.”
The students who choose substance-free dorms say the halls provide a refuge from peer pressure to drink or do drugs. Students say it’s a relief not to have to listen to other students playing drinking games and a pleasure not to be asked to join in drinking.
Says Brian Vikstrom, another student on Hamlin Hall: “I wanted to be able to relax in a place where there weren’t drunk people all over the place.”
Michigan’s substance-free housing plan is growing in popularity. Last year 500 students signed up, and this year the program attracted nearly 1,600 applicants. Housing officials had not anticipated such an increase, and had to turn away 400. In academic 1991-92, administrators hope to allow up to 1,600 to be involved.
At Eastern Michigan University, about 450 students have requested substance-free living arrangements for each of the past two years. Some are recovering from addictions, while others have relatives who are alcoholics or addicts.
“I needed a place where I could go where I knew alcohol and drugs weren’t going to be used,” says Ruth, a sophomore at Eastern Michigan who is a recovering alcoholic. She spoke on the condition that her last name not be used.
Ruth and other students say substance-free living arrangements are a good idea, but they say the arrangements do not always work out. Ruth was upset earlier this year when she walked into her room to find her roommate and other students drinking shots of whisky and tequila. For the next two months, Ruth says, her roommate drank heavily nearly every day. Ruth eventually moved out.
Administrators at Eastern Michigan say Ruth’s situation was “unfortunate.” On her housing application, Ruth’s roommate had checked a box saying it didn’t matter whether she was given a substance-free room. University officials say they hope to do a better job in the future of matching students who want such rooms.
At Oakland University, another Michigan institution that offers substance-free living arrangements, an entire dormitory called Anibal House is reserved for students who pledge not to drink, smoke, or use drugs. About 70 live there. The dorm offers a weight and workout room where students can take aerobics classes. Students also are required to attend programs on nutrition, values, or spirituality.
Many of those in the substance-free rooms say that they enjoy going to weekend parties, but that they usually have soft drinks instead of alcohol. Those who occasionally drink beer or wine say they do so in moderation and don’t believe in getting drunk.
The students at Oakland say other undergraduates don’t always understand the point of Anibal House. Residents get questions like: “You live in Anibal House? Aren’t they all health nuts?” says Joanne Deegan, a junior.
Indeed, some students at the Michigan campuses who didn’t sign up for substance-free rooms are skeptical of the arrangements. Students here at the University of Michigan, for example, say the campus has too many temptations and that, eventually, students in substance-free housing will violate their promise to abstain.
“I don’t think it’s going to fly,” says Krishnendu Mandal, a senior at Michigan and a member of the Acacia fraternity. “There is a big population of marijuana users and drinkers on campus, and I don’t think you can limit that. Unless a student has a religious reason for not drinking or using drugs, I don’t think they’ll be able to stick with it here.”
Mr. Mandal says he’s not sure the substance-free housing is such a good idea, even if it were possible for students to abstain. “I think it’s all right if people experiment once in a while,” he says.
Says Doug Smith, a junior and an economics major at Michigan: “I could see this kind of thing at a Christian college, but here? No way. No way.”
Ms. Deegan, however, says students who choose substance-free living aren’t fanatics -- they’re just concerned about their health.
“There will always be that element of people who want to party,” Ms. Deegan says. “But more people are deciding they don’t want to breathe passive smoke and be around alcohol.”
