Harvard University binges less often than the rest of the nation, but true to common campus assumptions, athletes and final club members pick up the slack for the rest of the College. More than 70 percent of Harvard athletes reported binge drinking at least once in a two-week period, compared to just 45 percent of the overall student population, a survey conducted by The Crimson found. And true to national averages, Harvard men drink at considerably higher rates than Harvard women. At Harvard, this myth has a basis in reality.
Athletes binge more often than the general population and drink harder when they choose to imbibe.
Almost 20 percent of athletes reported having had more than six drinks the last time they drank, compared with 7 percent of Harvard as a whole. And sports team members said they become intoxicated more than 70 percent of the time they drink, much greater than the campus rate of about 50 percent. But stress relief is not the only reason athletes drink. Brooke H. McCarthy '01, co-captain of the women's soccer team, says her team drinks together to celebrate games or to bond with teammates. Despite these assurances of support, however, twice as many athletes as all students said their drinking has caused them to forget where they were or what they did so far this year.