This dissertation offers a history of white college students' relationship with alcohol between 1820 and 1933. The years that frame this study represent a long crisis regarding alcohol in the United States. A dramatic rise in alcohol consumption began around 1800, the negative consequences of which led growing numbers of Americans, for the first time, to associate social evils with alcohol use. These initial realizations gave rise to a reform movement that ebbed and flowed over the next hundred years, reaching the pinnacle of its success in 1920, when national Prohibition became law. During this long century, college students' alcohol use often served as microcosm of developments within society. This study relies primarily, though not exclusively, on three types of sources that provide different perspectives into both the behavior and the concerns of student drinking. Using a large collection of student diaries, chapters one and two consider college students' alcohol use in the forty years preceding the U.S. Civil War. Chapter one considers the behavioral patterns and significance of college men's drinking; chapter two focuses primarily on the influence of the temperance reform movement on college students. Chapter three considers depictions of student drinking in twenty-two "college novels"--works of fiction set predominantly on campuses with students as their protagonists--published between 1869 and 1933. Finally, chapter four draws on the surviving administrative records at four institutions to consider the effects on campus discipline of national Prohibition. Across the nation's long century of conflict over alcohol, four themes emerge regarding college student drinking. First, drinking behaviors and attitudes toward alcohol on campus have long reflected those in the larger society. College students' alcohol use has generally mirrored that of adults in the segments of society from which they hailed or those hose ranks they wished to join upon graduation. The second theme is that the negative consequences of college student drinking have been ever-present and widespread. College students' alcohol use has resulted in negative health effects, interfered with their academic obligations, and coincided with vandalism and violence. Closely related to these negative consequences, college students' alcohol use has long presented problems to college authorities. These academic leaders primarily addressed alcohol-related misbehavior through the campus discipline process. Although college authorities enjoyed seemingly absolute discretion in terms of campus discipline, they seldom punished student drinkers harshly. Finally, drinking on campus has long been a mark of privilege. During all the years of this study, the heaviest and most regular alcohol use occurred at the institutions that enrolled the most privileged students, primarily eastern men's colleges. Within both elite and less prestigious institutions, wealthy white men consumed more alcohol than their less economically advantaged peers. By studying college students' alcohol use in relation to societal developments over a long century, the chapters that follow offer a largely untold story of student life and provide important perspective on our contemporary concerns.

<p>The United States experienced a tremendous expansion of higher education after the Second World War. However, this expansion has not led to a substantial reduction to class inequalities at elite universities, where the admissions process is growing even more selective. In his classic studies of French education and society, Pierre Bourdieu explains how schools can contribute to the maintenance and reproduction of class inequalities. Bourdieu's concepts have stimulated much research in American sociology. However, quantitative applications have underappreciated important concepts and aspects of Bourdieu's theory and have generally ignored college life and achievement. With detailed survey and institutional data of students at elite, private universities, this dissertation addresses a gap in the literature with an underexplored theoretical approach. </p> <p>First, I examine the class structure of elite universities. I argue that latent clustering analysis improves on Bourdieu's statistical approach, as well as locates class fractions that conventional schemas fail to appreciate. Nearly half of students have dominant class origins, including three fractions - professionals, executives and precarious professionals - that are distinguishable by the volume and composition of cultural and economic capital. Working class students remain severely underrepresented at elite, private universities. Second, I explore two types of social capital on an elite university campus. In its practical or immediate state, social capital exists as the resources embedded in networks. I explore the effects of extensive campus networks, and find that investments in social capital facilitate college achievement and pathways to professional careers. As an example of institutionalized social capital, legacies benefit from an admissions preference for applicants with family alumni ties. Legacies show a distinct profile of high levels of economic and cultural capital, but lower than expected achievement. Legacies activate their social capital across the college years, from college admissions to the prevalent use of personal contacts for plans after graduation.</p> <p>Third, I examine how social class affects achievement and campus life across the college years, and the extent to which cultural capital mediates the link between class and academic outcomes. From first semester grades to graduation honors, professional and middle class students have higher levels of achievement in comparison to executive or subordinate class students. The enduring executive-professional gap suggests contrasting academic orientations for two dominant class fractions, while the underperformance of subordinate class students is due to differences in financial support, a human capital deficit early in college, and unequal access to "collegiate" cultural capital. Collegiate capital includes the implicit knowledge that facilitates academic success and encourages a satisfying college experience. Subordinate class students are less likely to participate in many popular aspects of elite campus life, including fraternity or sorority membership, study abroad, and drinking alcohol. Additionally, two common activities among postsecondary students - participating in social and recreational activities and changing a major field early in college - are uniquely troublesome for subordinate class students. Overall, I conclude that Bourdieu provides a unique and useful perspective for understanding educational inequalities at elite universities in the United States.</p> / Dissertation

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The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.

The University of Arizona Yearbook is an annual publication that documents student activities, and campus life. The yearbook contains photographs and information about the university including: homecoming, graduating class, athletic events, student organizations and faculty.