The University of Colorado Boulder, known for its “party school” image, is working to make the campus friendlier for students who want to abstain from alcohol and drugs. Starting this fall, a sobriety-friendly dormitory will open to students who are recovering from addiction -- or want to avoid intoxicating substances.
Danny Conroy is director of the Collegiate Recovery Center at CU Boulder. He says that despite CU Boulder’s strict policies prohibiting them in dorms already, drug and alcohol use are “pretty widespread.” That is why the sober residential option is necessary.
“What we really want to focus on is providing a place for people that have made a decision to not do that -- where they are actually able to live and be around other students who have also made that decision,” says Conroy. “That makes a big difference, especially for those who have had a problem before and are now in recovery.”
Conroy says the substance-free housing may draw new students to CU Boulder.
To qualify for the dorm, students need to show at least six months of sobriety and must join the recovery center through an application and interview process. For the first year, the dorm in the Williams Village complex will have just 14 beds.
