Opinion: A cultural shift is needed for students in recovery to succeed and feel safe going to the UO
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Friday nights in the University district in Eugene are known to be laden with parties and students going out for drinks. Among the moving boxes from students returning to town, you will inevitably find boxes of hard seltzer, beer and empty wine bottles. For some students, these objects are nothing remarkable. But for students in recovery, they may be reminders of a life left behind.
College party scenes, for some, are a great place to socialize. For students in recovery, the university can be a minefield of triggers.
Carter Rosato, a junior at the UO, talked about the party scene on campus.
“I think it’s definitely one of the prevalent ways to socialize here, which can be tricky for addicts in recovery,” Rosato said. “It’s really unfortunate that a lot of the social scene revolves around going out to parties and going to house shows.”
Making meaningful connections with other students is a significant barrier for students in recovery, especially in a school known for its party scene like UO.[1] There is a perceived lack of commonality or fear of relapse that keeps these students from reaching out for connection.
A UO student in recovery, who requested anonymity for protection from misjudgment, echoed these thoughts when talking about their recovery.
“Since I have gotten here I haven’t been socializing a whole lot on campus, but that’s because I have been taking this time in a new place to focus on myself, go to meetings and connect with nature when I am not focusing on academics to keep myself busy,” the first-year student said.
“More people have encouraged me to drink since I’ve gotten sober than ever before, and that’s always just because they don’t have an addict mind. And it’s difficult for someone to understand how addiction works.”
A study[2] by the International Association for Relationship Research has produced findings relevant to this issue:
“The more academically and socially involved individuals are — that is, the more they interact with other students and faculty — the more likely they are to persist.”
Recovery is an isolating state and it is not uncommon for those in recovery to try and hack it alone. For these students, it can feel like people who do not struggle with addiction do not understand. But once a person changes from addict to recovered, it is important for these students to receive the tools necessary to thrive. It is important not only to know how to build relationships with other students in a healthy way but with professors as well.
Professors need to educate themselves on biases they may hold about students in recovery and make the classroom a place where all students can feel safe. Our classrooms need to be a place where students in recovery, who may feel isolated, feel emboldened enough to approach a professor for academic guidance.
Furthermore, there needs to be a cultural shift in how students are educated on addiction and recovery. Recovery needs to be destigmatized and compassion should be the norm.
Ultimately alcohol is not entirely an issue here. I do not negate the fact that so many relationships here at UO have been catalyzed because of the disarming and boundary-truncating effects of alcohol. The issue is how we sometimes view people who are in recovery. People in recovery are often labeled as delicate, untrustworthy or ignorant when the opposite is perhaps true. Coming to realizations about yourself and gathering the courage to start over requires resilience, honesty and vulnerability.
I asked some students what they would say to a student in recovery if they could speak to them now.
Gavin, a student at UO, knows some people outside the UO community who have dealt with the affliction of addiction. “It is okay to fail,” Gavin said.
Rosato had some advice for students in recovery.
Rosato said, “You’re doing great. As long as you are working towards it, taking it one step at a time and going day by day, everyone is proud of you. And we are all here to support you. I feel like a lot of people can relate even though you don’t think you can.”