Just the Facts

Just the Facts is an alcohol awareness program sponsored by the Golden Key National Honor Society. Research studies indicate that college students consistently overestimate the amount of excessive or abusive drinking that occurs in college. These misperceptions affect the choices that students then make about their own drinking behavior. Just the Facts addresses these problems of misperceptions and promotes responsible behavior and positive social norms.

Just the Facts is a media campaign that applies the methods and strategies of social norms marketing to alcohol-related behavior. At The University of Mississippi, our Just the Facts campaign consists of a series of weekly advertisements in The Daily Mississippian, supplemented by flyers and other notices posted across campus to reinforce the message in the newspaper ads.

The advertisements themselves are aimed specifically at correcting misinformation about students' alcohol-related behavior at Ole Miss. Each advertisement presents accurate information about the actual drinking patterns of students at this university: how much they really drink, how often, whether they allow drinking to interfere with their schoolwork, etc. The messages disseminated in the ads thus focus on actual norms and positive attitudes, which promote healthy, low-risk choices related to alcohol consumption.

Just the Facts is not a "just-say-no" type of campaign; that is, it does not insist that students abstain from alcohol consumption entirely. Rather, Just the Facts strives to familiarize students with the truth about drinking, and thus to bring about a positive change in their perceptions of the campus environment with respect to binge drinking and other types of excessive alcohol consumption."

Nor does Just the Facts offer a "quick fix" to the problem. Its effects are cumulative because its ultimate goal is to change the campus culture and to create an environment in which students can make mature, responsible decisions based on accurate information. As Just the Facts succeeds in making students aware of the facts about alcohol consumption at Ole Miss, it will, over a period of time, produce a reduction in excessive alcohol consumption and binge drinking.

*** How did Just the Facts begin? ***
Just the Facts is sponsored by the Golden Key National Honor Society. The Golden Key chapter at The University of Mississippi has been a national leader in developing the Just the Facts program. Just the Facts began about four years ago as a research study conducted by the Golden Key Honor Society at The University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. In its initial stages, it was funded by a grant from the Department of Education through FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education). Ole Miss was one of nine schools nationwide that took part in the study, and preliminary reports on the research gathered here and the other eight campuses indicate that Just the Facts works. That is, Just the Facts succeeds in correcting students' misperceptions about drinking at their schools.

Just the Facts has the full endorsement and support of every major administrative office at The University, from the Chancellor's office to the Dean of Students' office, to the Health Center.

*** Sample Just the Facts Messages ***
* Students maintaining an A or B grade point avg. consume fewer than 5 drinks per week.

* 60% of the students at Ole Miss use alcohol once a week or less.

* Most college students (52.2%) report consuming less than 1 alcoholic drink per week.