Substance-free residence halls: the promise and the practice

Binge drinking is a serious problem on many college campuses. A number of schools have established substance-free residence halls as one strategy for coping with the problem. The schools have configured these halls very differently. Administrators agree that following certain guidelines can help ensure that substance-free housing succeeds. These guidelines include starting small, involving students in their design and development, keeping the areas separate, considering carefully whether to offer special programming, and enforcing the rules. Administrators have identified effective responses to the various concerns and objections to establishing substance-free residence halls that have sometimes been heard.