At a time when some U.S. college presidents are proposing lowering the legal drinking age from 21, local higher education leaders aren’t supporting the move, and state elected officials are fighting back to make sure that doesn’t happen in Illinois.

While 129 college and university presidents nationwide have signed on to the so-called Amethyst Initiative, no colleges in DuPage and west suburban Cook counties are backing the idea. The initiative states that a “culture of dangerous, clandestine binge-drinking” has developed because students cannot legally drink until age 21.

S. Alan Ray is president of Elmhurst College. He said he has no intention to add his voice to the chorus calling on lawmakers to lower the legal drinking age to 18.

“While I am in agreement that (binge) drinking is a serious issue impacting our college campuses, I part ways with 129 of my presidential colleagues on the desirability of lowering the drinking age as a means to combat this phenomenon,” Ray said in a written statement. “My decision not to sign ... is grounded in current research showing that the drinking age of 21 is indeed working to make campuses and the public safer.”

Studies show binge drinking can lead to a host of other safety problems on college campuses, including sexual assault, vandalism, violence, property damage, suicide, poor academic performance, higher dropout rates and deadly accidents, Ray said.

Phil Palmer has spent most of his adult life serving drinks to customers at Palmer Place in La Grange.

Palmer said he runs a full-service family restaurant where drinks are served. Palmer Place does a good business and yet the tavern owner said he has strong opinions on lowering the drinking age — as a father and a business owner.

“I have an 18-year-old son who is a college freshman; as the owner of a restaurant, I thinks it’s an obligation of the school and the local police to enforce (the age limit),” he said. “I think kids that age are not responsible enough to make those kind of decisions, especially with something that could be a life-and-death decision to themselves or somebody else.”

Palmer said he personally favors St. Louis University’s policy on alcohol, which is one of no tolerance.

“I think they do a good job,” he said. Those schools supporting lowering the drinking age are probably those that have lived with lax rules and are now having a hard time controlling problems associated with drinking, he said.

“It’s coming home to roost,” Palmer said.

Riverside Police Chief Tom Weitzel had a quick response on the Amethyst Initiative.

“It’s ridiculous,” he said. “Kids are already binge drinking in high school. I have three sons in high school, a freshman, a junior and a senior, and I can tell you there is a tremendous amount of pressure to drink.”

Lowering the drinking age could only make a serious problem even worse, Weitzel said.

“We’re already facing alcohol problems at the high school level and now the colleges want to sanction it? That’s ridiculous,” he said. “We have responded to alcohol poisoning from younger kids, 14 years old. We’ve found them lying in the front yard. It’s a serious issue.”

As for the study on the issue, Weitzel said he would like to see the research.

 “I’m sure you can find a lot of emergency technicians and emergency room doctors who would tell you otherwise,” he said.

Spurred by a state representative’s proposal to send a message to Congress by passing a resolution opposing the change, state Sen. Martin Sandoval, D-12th District, of Chicago, said he plans to file a companion resolution when the Senate reconvenes in November.

Just days after more than 100 college presidents, including a handful from Illinois, signed the initiative supporting debate on lowering the legal drinking age, Sandoval released a statement calling for elected officials to ignore the request.

“This sets a bad example and sends a terrible message to our young students all over,” he said. “The presidents who have joined that campaign should raise their standards and make sure that drinking should not be part of college life anywhere.”

Earlier this month, state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-70th District, of Hinckley introduced a resolution expressing the House of Representatives’ desire to keep the state’s drinking age at 21. The measure is House Resolution 1499.

“This is not an idea that is right for this time,” Pritchard said.

Unlike bills that win legislative approval and are signed by the governor, resolutions do not carry the weight of law.

Still, Pritchard said, House adoption of his resolution would send a strong signal that Illinois has no desire to meddle with its legal drinking age.

“Our thought here is if you put some opposing sense of the (House) out there, it may forestall some of these actions,” he said, adding he isn’t sure when the House will consider his proposal.

The measure was sent to the Rules Committee Sept. 10.
State Rep. John D’Amico, D-15th District, of Chicago, chairman of the House Driver’s Education and Safety Committee, said he views Pritchard’s resolution as a good idea.

“I’m not in favor of lowering the drinking age,” he said. “We want to promote young kids to drive safely, and I don’t want to encourage them to have alcohol in the car or anything like that.”

D’Amico said his constituents haven’t suggested the drinking age needs to be changed.
“If they’re not calling my office saying we want it lowered, I’m not going to lower it,” he said.

Staff writers Joe Sinopoli, Danya Hooker, Dan Petrella and Gatehouse News Services contributed to this story.