In just about every tradition, the end of the year is a time for socializing and celebrating with friends and family. Whether you are planning to celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, New Year’s Eve, any other special occasion, or simply the end of the fall semester, I urge you to keep safe and healthy during this holiday season.

As many of you know, alcohol abuse is a prevalent and persistent problem on many college campuses. The entire CSU family was forced to confront this issue when some of our students experienced tragic or near-tragic incidents this semester. At Chico State, a fraternity pledge died after ingesting a considerable amount of alcohol. At San Diego State, two different fraternity-related incidents involved underage drinking and hospitalization of pledges.

While these incidents involved Greek organizations, this issue extends far beyond fraternities and clubs and reaches into the general student population.

All too often, alcohol abuse is viewed as just a way of college life. In fact, it is a genuine problem that hurts not just the individual involved, but also those around him or her, and in some cases, the entire college community.

Because of its importance to our students and to our campuses, I believe that we must increase awareness of this critical issue. We must find alternatives to alcohol and solutions that work for our students, not just in theory but in everyday practice. We also must join together to learn from each other’s practices and about other new approaches from around the country.

That is why I have appointed a committee of CSU presidents and students to review our university system’s alcohol policies and prevention programs. It is my hope that this committee can help us strengthen our policies and minimize the number of students who are harmed by alcohol abuse.

The chairman of this committee will be CSU Fresno President John Welty, who also happens to be the vice chair of BACCHUS, the international association of college and university-based peer education programs focusing on alcohol abuse prevention. He will be joined by five other CSU presidents, two CSU vice presidents of student affairs, six students, and representatives from faculty, alumni, and CSU staff. I expect a report from this committee by early spring.

In the meantime, I hope that all members of the CSU family will take the time to recognize and become more thoughtful about the serious issue of alcohol abuse on campus.

And while I encourage all of you to enjoy this festive time with friends and family, I hope that you will take the necessary steps to celebrate responsibly:

Don’t drink and drive;

Don’t let your friends drive drunk;

Don’t ride with someone who has been drinking;

Choose a “designated driver” who will refrain from drinking;

Always buckle up.

I wish you all a very happy holiday season.

Charles B. Reed is the Chancellor of the 23-campus California State University System.