Gutmann: Drinking-age debate needed

It is "unrealistic" to expect people who can vote and serve in the military "not to be able to take a drink," says Penn President Amy Gutmann.

But she has decided not to sign an initiative asserting that the legal drinking age of 21 leads to widespread underage binge drinking, even though she said she supports debate about lowering the drinking age.

The Amethyst Initiative was signed this summer by the presidents of 128 colleges and universities, including Dartmouth, Duke, Tufts and Johns Hopkins universities. The initiative does not specifically call for the drinking age to be lowered, but it encourages debate about the issue.

Gutmann did not sign the initiative because she has not seen conclusive evidence confirming its claim that the higher drinking age causes increased levels of binge drinking.

However, she said the drinking age should be lowered to 18.

Gutmann said she prefers a lower drinking age because a constitutional democracy such as the United States should not leave intact a law that so many people violate.

The presidents of the colleges who did sign the initiative, however, do not all agree with Gutmann that the drinking age should be lowered.

Duke President Richard Brodhead does not support changing the drinking age, according to Michael Schoenfeld, the university's vice president for public affairs.

Shoenfeld said Brodhead signed the initiative because he feels "the country needs an honest and constructive dialogue about the issue" of alcohol consumption at colleges.

The president of Tufts, Lawrence Bacow, signed the Amethyst Initiative because he supports "objective discussions" about alcohol consumption at colleges and universities, according to a Tufts press release, and not because he is advocating a change in the drinking age.

A number of organizations, including Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the International Association of Chiefs of Police have spoken out against lowing the drinking age.

The groups cite research showing that a higher drinking age helps prevent alcohol-related car accidents and that alcohol stunts brain development until people are in their early 20s.

Rebecca Shaver, the Pennsylvania state executive director for MADD, said the organization believes the subtext of the Amethyst Initiative supports lowering the drinking age.

"We definitely support discussion, but it would be irresponsible to have a knee-jerk reaction and lower the drinking age without knowing what the consequences will be," she said.

Although Gutmann disagrees with MADD and similar groups about the drinking age, she said she respects their views.

Because of the influence of these organizations, she said she believes it will be "very, very hard" to change the drinking age in the foreseeable future.

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