Morganelli Teams Up With CHC To Address College Drinking

Sonia Oliveira (L) and Arlene Lund (R)

On July 18, NorCo DA John Morganelli met with Northampton County's four college presidents to see what could be done to discourage and reduce drinking on college campuses and at off campus housing near these colleges. "Alcohol is still the drug of choice," he said. He wants to avoid tragedies like last year's death of a Lafayette College freshman, who fractured his skull in an apparent fall after a weekend of drinking.

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 1,825 college students between the ages of 18 and 24 die each year from alcohol-related unintentional injuries, including motor-vehicle crashes. Nearly 696,000 students are assaulted by another student who has been drinking. Morganelli explained a "culture of drinking" on college campuses that is both "damaging and deadly," especially to incoming freshman.

He explained that Pennsylvania has a medical amnesty law that shields underage students from prosecution if they seek medical assistance for a student who may be suffering from alcohol poisoning or worse. To ensure that students know they can seek help without fear of retribution, the Center for Humanistic Change (CHC) identified all alcohol distributors within a five-mile radius of each of Northampton County's four schools.

Morganelli has sent a letter to each distributor, asking them for their help in curbing underage drinking. "These are the fellows we want on our side," he remarked.

Sonia Oliveira, a Program Specialist with CHC, will follow up with personal visits to distributors and handouts explaining the Medical Amnesty Law. CHC Executive Director Arlene Lund explained that her agency is an alcohol, tobacco, and drug education and prevention organization. "scare , tactics do not have an impact," she warned. "We want to have a conversation."

Morganelli may expand his outreach to bars that surround colleges.

College Roundtable on Student Alcohol Abuse Today

Northampton County's four colleges and universities will join DA John Morganelli today to address drinking at the four campuses and potentially outline a unified strategy toward keeping students safe, particularly freshmen during their initial weeks away from home.

“Obviously, college students will continue to drink,” Morganelli said. “My purpose in having this summit is to avoid the kinds of tragedies we have seen on a daily basis across the country and right here.”

Before the roundtable, representatives of Lehigh University, Moravian College , Lafayette College and Northampton Community College will hear presentations about alcohol abuse by college students.

Morganelli Announces Summit to Curb College Drinking

Northampton County is home to four different colleges. There's Lehigh University and its nemesis, Lafayette. There's Northampton Community College. Finally, there's Moravian College, which has no rival. These schools all have one thing in common. Me. I, a bottom-feeding blogger, have actually spoken at each of these fine institutions as a guest lecturer, imparting pearls of wisdom to eager young minds. At least I think I was a lecturer. It's either that or I'm a case study in aberrant behavior. Aside from me, these schools have something else in common. Booze. As real as the opioid crisis is in other segments of society, alcohol abuse is perhaps the biggest problem facing college students. Yesterday, NorCo DA John Morganelli announced that all four of these colleges will meet with him in May to see if they can arrive at a unified approach to this problem.

Morganelli admitted at the onset that it's "naive to think we're going to stop college kids from drinking." But get this. Alcohol is a killer. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, drinking by college-age students (18-24) leads to 1,825 deaths, 696,000 assaults and 97,000 sexual assaults every year. It keeps prosecutors busy, but that misses the point. "We're here to save kids' lives," he stressed.

Also attending this summit will be representatives of Northampton County's very busy Drug and Alcohol Division.

Morganelli noted that drinking rates are highest in fraternities and sororities, followed by students who live on campus as well as those who play sports. It is least prevalent among students who commute and still live with their parents. The binge drinking is usually at its worse during the first few weeks of school.