While nearly half of full-time college students drink, according to 2023 survey data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, nearly 30 percent binge drink. Binge drinking—which SAMHSA defines as five or more drinks in a sitting for men, or four for women—is linked to a slew of health problems, including injuries from accidents and alcohol poisoning.

Universities often respond to alcohol use by imposing zero-tolerance policies, or requiring alcohol prevention education in an effort to curb student drinking. But a student-led club at Rice University in Texas is taking a different approach. Through a campaign called “Balance Your Buzz,” it gives students the chance to learn how alcohol affects them in real time—encouraging more thoughtful alcohol use and informed decisions, without judgment.

The club’s president is Rice student Doug Calvillo. Our interview about the campaign has been edited for length and clarity.

“In a future setting, they can drink and then check their BAC, and be like, ‘Ok, this is about where I felt good before.’

Emma James: What is “Balance Your Buzz”?

Doug Calvillo: Balance your Buzz is a party—but it’s also an alcohol education and harm reduction campaign put on by our club, the Rice Coalition on Substance Use. We provide students with resources and education to learn more about their alcohol limits in a safe and welcoming environment.

EJ: What do your parties look like?

DC: We hold these events in real-world party settings within our residential colleges, which is Rice’s dorm system. We offer free alcohol in a designated area. After students drink enough to feel good, they can walk to a different space, which has snacks and non-alcoholic beverages, to socialize and mingle.

Then, we give students blood alcohol content (BAC) monitors to track how they’re feeling over the course of a night of drinking. We’re not as concerned about the number they’re blowing into the monitor, but that they have these dedicated BAC check-in points throughout the night to correlate how they feel with how much they’re drinking: “Ok, I’ve had about this many drinks. I feel this way.”

There’s one brand we found that has disposable BAC monitors. So when students leave, we’re giving them those and we’re like, “Hey, look, you can use this at your next whatever.” Our club also offers these for students whenever they want; they can come to us and collect them. Then, in a future setting, they can drink and then check their BAC, and be like, “Ok, this is about where I felt good before, and this is about where I’ll feel good right now.”

Disposable BAC monitors

EJ: Where did this idea originate?

DC: Alcohol on college campuses is a big concern, and Rice is no exception to that. We had some significant alcohol-related incidents on our campus last year that received public attention. Initially, our administration responded with a focus on limiting consumption and getting rid of the party culture. The Balance Your Buzz intervention was part of several efforts to help shift the culture to one of mutual trust between administration and students.

Another big motivator was just a general need for more innovative and effective drinking interventions. Many of the methods out there, such as slideshows during orientation week, infographics, or even drunk goggles, are just not supported by evidence to reduce alcohol-related harms.

“We also collected preliminary data from participants; 95 percent reported pacing their drinking more effectively.”

 

EJ: So how is this different from other college drinking interventions?

DC: Our program fosters a genuine curiosity and engagement to participate, unlike some of those other programs that might feel like a requirement. Our event is something that people are choosing to engage in, and the skills and messaging that we’re teaching are immediate, tangible and transferable to future settings.

EJ: How was the program received by students?

DC: It’s been incredibly well received. There was excitement and curiosity from students about checking their BAC levels. And we’ve found that providing alcohol education in a nonjudgmental way attracts a wide range of students—from people who frequently attend parties to students who are just starting to learn their alcohol limits.

For example, at one event, we had two students comment that they’ve never really drunk before, but they came out to our event because they felt like it was controlled and a safe space to learn about how alcohol affects them.

We also collected preliminary data from 22 participants on the impact and acceptability of the intervention. The results are promising: 100 percent of students reported that they gained a better understanding of how much alcohol it takes to feel “tipsy,” 95 percent reported pacing their drinking more effectively, and 100 percent reported that they enjoyed the event.

Detail from event flyer

EJ: And how was it received by faculty?

Faculty shared similar interest. Because of the challenges the university faced with alcohol last year, there were some barriers at first. Fortunately, by the time we decided to implement this, Rice was looking for these alternative measures and they were shifting toward a more harm reductionist view. So we kind of came in at the right time.

We worked closely with Associate Dean Allison Vogt and Erin Timmerberg at Rice’s Student Wellbeing Office, among other key campus stakeholders. I think a few people were concerned about how things would look, if the university provided alcohol and something went wrong. But Associate Dean Vogt was there to quell their fears and help share that this initiative isn’t causing more harm; it’s actually reducing harm from alcohol.

“Importantly, we centered trust: We communicated that we were trusting these students with the alcohol that we were providing.”

EJ: Have you experienced any challenges?

DC: We had to register it as a public party, which is this huge process at Rice. But other than just being time-consuming and adding some logistical hurdles, it wasn’t necessarily a challenge—in the end, it helped the event run more safely and smoothly.

For the first event, it was challenging to get university buy-in to pay for alcohol. Instead, we collaborated with other student groups who host social events to cover those costs. Once we had data to show our pilot event was successful, we were then able to secure more funding, ensuring future events ran smoothly.

EJ: Could this be replicated by other schools?

DC: Absolutely. All you need is a venue where students are used to going—we hold events in well-known party settings to engage the participants and make them feel comfortable. If you’re at a larger university, you might want to limit participants per event; around 200 students was manageable for us.

More importantly, we centered trust: We communicated that we were trusting these students with the alcohol that we were providing.

Top photograph (adapted) by cottonbro studio via Pexels. Inset images courtesy of Doug Calvillo.

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