The slope of change: an environmental management approach to reduce drinking on a day of celebration at a US college.

OBJECTIVE This research extends the literature on event-specific environmental management with a case study evaluation of an intervention designed to reduce student drinking at a university's year-end celebration. PARTICIPANTS Cornell University undergraduates were surveyed each May from 2001 through 2009. Sample sizes ranged from 322 to 1,973. METHODS Randomly sampled surveys were conducted after a large, annual spring campus celebration. An environmental management plan was initiated in 2003 that included increased enforcement of the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) law. RESULTS In the short term, drinking at the campus celebration decreased while drinking before the event increased. Over time, the intervention significantly reduced high-risk drinking on the day of the event, especially among those under the age of 21. CONCLUSION These findings are contrary to the argument that enforcement of MLDA laws simply leads to increased high-risk drinking, and therefore have implications for how colleges approach the challenge of student alcohol misuse.