The University of Maryland Athletic Council says it is going forward with the plan to sell alcohol at its sporting events despite criticism from two public health professors because it found research that did not agree with them.
The Athletic Council sought input from Drs. David Jernigan and Amelia Arria, co-directors of the Maryland Collaborative to Reduce College Drinking and Related Problems. In their November letter to Athletic Council Chairman Nicholas Hadley, the school was warned that studies have found drinking at college sporting events "is associated with significant problems." Jernigan and Arria recommended prohibiting alcohol sales.
"We took the letter from Dr. Jernigan and Dr. Arria seriously, but there's other reports that give opposite effects of alcohol-related transports and arrests at universities and we were left with uncertainty," Hadley said.
Hadley said that after studying the data outlined in the letter and doing its own research, the council rejected the idea that serving alcohol would have a negative effect.
Jernigan and Arria evaluated numerous studies, including one that examined the University of Colorado-Boulder, where a moratorium on alcohol consumption and sales was instituted at its stadium in 1996.
"The committee noted that years after the University of Colorado at Boulder banned alcohol from athletic events, alcohol was reinstated at their stadium," Hadley said. "Allowing alcoholic sales at sporting events did not necessarily lead to an increase in alcohol transports, arrests and other related issues."
In addition, Hadley said, an Athletic Council subcommittee got input from campus communities, including student organizations, student-athletes, the Student Athlete Advisory Council and the university's chief of police.
"We ... thought the student-athlete was very important in the decision process because they're the one's playing. It's their game," Hadley said.
According to a letter from University President Wallace D. Loh in announcing his approval of the plan, most students supported it while most faculty and staff did not.
Hadley said that because the campus was divided, the Athletic Council put "common-sense restrictions" in place, such as checking identification, training servers and managers, and informing the campus of proper alcohol procedures.
The plan must be approved by the Prince George's County liquor board, which will hold a public hearing July 8.