University of Puget Sound
Before her retirement from the University of Puget Sound in the summer of 2003, President Pierce actively supported alcohol and other drug prevention efforts on the University of Puget Sound campus and in the surrounding community.
President
Susan Resneck Pierce has been a committed advocate for alcohol prevention
efforts on her campus and on a national level. She has been visible on campus
by supporting alcohol prevention and treatment programs like the Campus-Community
Partnership to Reduce Underage and Unsafe Drinking. She has also been instrumental
in the establishment of substance-free residence hall floors, as well as a
Healthy Options Floor, where programming focuses on healthy lifestyle choices.
Beyond the University if Puget Sound, President Pierce was also a valuable and dynamic member of the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism’s (NIAAA) Task Force on Prevention of Abuse of Alcohol. In October 2002, President Pierce lead the charge to organize a conference for Northwest colleges that provided an overview of the NIAAA report data and explored how campuses can put the report’s recommendations to work. At this conference, administrators from 140 Pacific Northwest colleges gathered to address student drinking with some of the nation’s leading specialists on the topic.
Additionally, President Pierce co-signed a letter with Karen Morse, President of Western Washington University, to all Washington college and university presidents in support of the Washington College Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention’s "Report to Presidents," which provided an overview of the coalition’s statewide initiative to address collegiate substance abuse in Washington and outlined how presidents and senior administrators can work to support and contribute to this effort. President Pierce has written numerous articles and commentaries that have appeared in publications such as Trusteeship magazine, the Seattle Times, and Liberal Education. Pierce’s contributions to the effort to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse in higher education have been valuable and widespread, making her an important member of the Presidents Leadership Group.