Student deaths bring 'serious' attention to University of Iowa risky behavior

IOWA CITY — We're going to fix this.

University of Iowa Vice President of Student Life Tom Rocklin said as much in a text to a staffer after a freshman this spring died while attending an out-of-town fraternity formal at Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri — marking the university's second alcohol or drug-related student death of the month.

'We're going to address this very seriously,' Rocklin said in his text.

That's not a new message or mission. Rocklin and his Division of Student Life team have been pushing it and pursuing it for years — trying new tactics, coordinating fresh partnerships, backing stricter laws, and innovating novel programs — ditching those that fail and keeping those that do.

And despite the deaths this spring, Rocklin said, the campus is making progress.

'We've had tremendous results, and we have a real big problem remaining,' he said. 'It's hard for people to hold both of those thoughts in mind at once. We're getting better, but we're not good enough.'

There is evidence of improvement, according to a UI analysis conducted through its alcohol harm reduction plan.

The number of UI students who reported engaging in high-risk drinking in the last two weeks decreased 23 percent between 2009 and 2015 — the most recent data available — putting the 2015 percentage at 54.2.

The average number of drinks students reported consuming per occasion fell 22 percent during that same period to 5.8 in 2015, compared with 7.43 in 2009.

And the total students who reported drinking 10 or more days a month dropped 28 percent — from 36.4 percent to 26.1 percent.

The university has work to do to reach its 2019 targets — including moving the high-risk drinking percentage under 50 percent and decreasing the average drinks per occasion to 4. UI-specific data compiled through the American College Health Association's 2016 National College Health Assessment shows continued improvement toward those marks — although it reports UI students are more likely to use alcohol, engage in high-risk drinking, and experience negative consequences than the national sample.

A related benefit to continued progress toward the UI goals would be a shift in its reputation.

For years UI has ranked at or near the top of numerous party-school lists — including those published by The Princeton Review and Playboy.

'More and more commonly I hear students ... saying, 'I want my diploma to be from a school that people respect, not one that they know as the No. 1 party school,' Rocklin said. 'Which we are not anymore.'

That student perspective represents a significant and helpful shift, according to Rocklin. When Iowa City in the 2000s started down the path toward barring anyone under 21 from entering a bar after 10 p.m., for example, UI students slinked away from advocating for the new rule.

'The first time we went through the 21 ordinance, we dug and scratched to find students to work on the campaign,' Rocklin said. 'We found a graduate student. I think that was it.'

When the ordinance finally passed in 2010, the student body vice president spoke publicly with Rocklin in favor of it. In 2013, when the law faced repeal, the UI student newspaper endorsed keeping it.

'That's what makes me hopeful that change will continue,' Rocklin said. 'Students increasingly every year are on board. Both because they see the immediate risks and they see the risks associated with the reputation of the school.'

GREEK CHANGES

Risks of dangerous drinking and the surrounding culture were thrust into the UI spotlight this spring when first-year student Kamil Jackowski died during a Sigma Chi chapter formal in Lake of the Ozarks. He was found unresponsive in a hotel room April 30 and rushed to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Medical examiners have not determined a cause and manner of death, but the UI Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils promptly issued a permanent ban on all out-of-town formals and an immediate moratorium on events with alcohol.

The Greek leaders also announced plans to convene a task force on the alcohol culture.

That group will be led by Greek student leaders and UI staff overseeing fraternity and sorority life programs, but Rocklin said the administration supports their efforts in anticipation of lasting change. In a statement responding to the Greek changes, Rocklin earlier this month said, 'My expectation is that you will maintain the moratorium on events involving alcohol until the task force has made substantial progress.'

He told The Gazette he isn't necessarily saying alcohol at fraternity and sorority events should be banned forever.

'There are obviously lots of ways in which people consume alcohol at relatively low risk,' he said. 'So I'm not going to jump immediately to the idea that we would ban alcohol at Greek events. It's not off the table either. We've got to let the task force do their work.'

Rocklin is, however, behind the permanent stop to out-of-town events, something he said was in the works before Jackowski's death.

'Out of town formals contain elements of high risk — it's high-risk drinking, it's also high-risk sexual behavior that concern me,' he said. 'To my mind, I can't see where risks associated are justified by the benefits of going out of town.'

UI INITIATIVES

As for university-led efforts aimed at decreased alcohol and drug abuse, several programs with proven track records are ongoing, while administrators continue to amend and add others.

Those already in the playbook include mandatory online training for freshmen, who must complete the course or receive an 'unsatisfactory' on their academic record, and late-night alternative activities. The university also has tightened sanctions against students who violate the conduct code.

And the university has rolled out a relatively new health risk assessment for sophomores, many of whom are living off campus for the first time. That assessment is not mandatory, but students are incentivized to participate with a $5 gift card.

In the last year, 5,113 students were invited to take the assessment and 1,868 did — or 37 percent. Of that total, 225 were flagged at risk and subsequently completed a 'brief alcohol screening and intervention,' which Tanya Villhauer, associate director for student wellness and harm reduction initiatives, said has proved successful.

The university also has started a rehabilitation group for UI students battling alcoholism.

The university doesn't put many resources into media campaigns, because they haven't produced strong results. But UI is spreading the message about alternative, alcohol-free activities through a 'My Friday Night' initiative following real students on nights typical of drinking and partying.

'AN ISOLATED TRAGEDY'

A continual shift in technique and method to address the alcohol and drug culture on campus is necessary to respond to changes in the behavior itself.

Students today, for example, are trending toward more hard alcohol consumption — perhaps due to the reality that beer and kegs are harder to transport and hide. Drug abuse, specifically related to prescription medication and opioids, is rampant nationally — keeping UI officials alert but so far at ease that this campus hasn't seen a similar spike.

Still, Rocklin said, one death is too many. And the Johnson County Medical Examiner's Office earlier this week found UI freshman Sean Wu had ecstasy in his system when he died April 8.

Wu, 18, who police found unresponsive in his Daum Residence Hall room, also had an existing cardiological condition known as Kawasaki disease — which authorities said contributed to death. Rocklin said he doesn't believe ecstasy is used widely on campus or is a growing problem — although they'll continue surveying students and analyzing responses.

'An isolated tragedy doesn't inform us very much,' he said. 'So my main response to that is not policy oriented. It's to feel the family's pain to lose a young person like that.'

l Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com