Sushi, pasta, sandwiches and smoothies are a few of the options that college students can purchase with their dining plan. However, a few colleges across the nation are now offering something new: alcohol.
Colby College, a liberal arts school in Maine, recently started a program in which students who are at least 21 years old can purchase up to two drinks for one dollar each with their meal on Friday nights.
With this new program -- which was suggested by members of the student government -- students who are of age can eat in a separate room within the dining hall and enjoy a glass of wine or a beer with their meal.
"There was a great variance on campus between the non-drinkers and those who binge-drink."
As part of the new program, aimed at teaching students how to drink responsibly in an adult setting, wine and beer experts are on hand to introduce the different drinks featured each week and give suggestions about which drinks complement various foods.
"This is just one piece of a puzzle to model proper behavior around alcohol," said Janice Kassman, vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Colby, noting that the program has been "very successful."
Senior and Vice President of Colby's Student Government Association Adelin Cai said she feels that having alcohol available in the dining hall should not be that big of a deal.
"This is what you would do if you go out to any other restaurant because you're of age," Cai said. "It seems that people are seeing this as something that is really special because it's on a college campus -- it doesn't have to be that way."
For Colby senior Alice Henderson, the program is "an opportunity to drink and do so in a more mature context."
"When I came to campus freshman and sophomore year, I sort of got roped into the mentality of drinking a lot for the sake of basically getting drunk," Henderson said. "I think with this program, and just getting older, I sort of realize the role of alcohol in a healthy adult life."
At Duke University, students can use dining points, which are similar to Penn's Dining Dollars, at a variety of locations on campus, four of which offer alcohol.
"You can go and get a martini on your meal plan if you're of age," said Jim Wulforst, director of dining services at Duke.
Nevertheless, Wulforst emphasized that the main goal was to "try to keep students on campus and drink responsibly."
In the six years since Duke implemented the policy, the school has never had a problem with students overdrinking in on-campus eateries, according to Wulforst.
"What we've shown at Duke is that you can offer alcohol on campus and have students drink responsibly."
Jim Bressler, director of sales and marketing at the Washington Duke Inn & Gold Club -- which has a restaurant and bar at which students can use their dining points -- said he's been very pleased with the partnership.
"It's brought in an entirely new market for us. We're extremely happy with the results," Bressler said. "The behavior of the students has been terrific. ... It's been a very healthy relationship so far, and it's been beneficial to both sides."
However, Penn students should not get their hopes up about having alcohol as part of their meal plan anytime soon.
According to Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives Steph-anie Ives, under Pennsylvania state law, the University is not licensed to sell alcohol to students.
"When you purchase alcohol, you have to do it through a licensed establishment," Ives said. "We have some licenses, like the Inn at Penn, [but] the University as a whole is not licensed."
Although Penn cannot offer alcohol in conjunction with dining services, Ives cites short seminars -- known as preceptorials -- on wine tasting as "an opportunity for students to learn about alcohol in an educational and culture context."
Yet the not-for-credit courses are very limited in capacity and are only offered a few times during the year at most.
College senior Brian Altman tried to register for the wine-tasting preceptorial but was unable to because it was filled. He said he wished that Penn offered more resources for alcohol education.
"Maybe they can have a talk once in a while, not even providing alcohol," Altman said. "I definitely would want to see Penn do more if possible."
