Located in the Office of Residential Education, Alcohol and Other Drugs Education and Prevention is guided by a social norms and harm reduction approach, providing education, prevention and counseling services necessary so that HWS community members can make responsible choices about alcohol and other drugs.
Through this approach, students receive current and accurate information regarding the norms at Hobart and William Smith. Students are challenged to rethink their perceptions regarding how often and how much their peers use alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.
In addition, our programming incorporates strategies that seek to maximize both the intellectual and social growth of students by using motivational methods to engage students to begin the process of exploring behaviors along a continuum of beneficial to harmful consequences.
The aim is to encourage an atmosphere that recognizes choosing, as many of our students do, not to use alcohol or other drugs is acceptable and the colleges work with students to provide substance-free activities and housing accommodations.