Combating the alcohol culture among college students and attracting them to non-alcoholic-based events is something the University has been working toward and will continue to do, Desprez said.

"Right now we don’t really have anything as powerful as the beverage industry has in their advertisements, and that becomes really difficult,” she said. “Until we can really do well with media literacy and really pick apart those ads — that’s sort of what we’re up against in terms of how do I feel like I can connect with someone.”

The University’s Office of Student Conflict Resolution has also seen a significant rise in the number of students going through the center’s Adaptable Conflict Resolution for Alcohol and Other Drugs Program. OSCR Director Jay Wilgus said the program has seen an increase from 112 students last year to more than 300 so far this year.

“I’m not certain that (the increase) is a result of increased drinking,” Wilgus said. “All factors indicate that it’s a sign of increased reporting from Ann Arbor Police Department.”

Because of improved communication between AAPD and OSCR, students who had previously received Minor in Possession citations but had not sought help from OSCR are now being referred there, Wilgus said.

According to the University’s Department of Public Safety website, in 2009 there were 324 liquor law arrests or citations — defined as violating laws including the transportation and possession of alcohol — on campus property and 655 referrals to non-police programs like OSCR for disciplinary actions. For reports in 2007 and 2008, the number of citations and referrals were about 500.

Wilgus and Desprez said the funding firm grants AAPD received for enforcement this fall has probably accounted for part of the increase in the number of violations reported to their offices.

Desprez noted that UMix’s sole purpose is not to combat alcoholism on campus.

“(UMix’s) goal is not necessarily to do alcohol reduction,” she said. “Their goal at the (University) Unions is to do a really fun event in the Union on Friday night, because when you do that, people will come.”

The AlcoholEdu for College surveys indicated that students’ most important reasons for drinking included having a good time with friends, celebrating and being outgoing in social situations. Desprez also said many students drink to try to form connections among peers.

Desprez said she believes UMix provides a place for students who don’t drink or who drink rarely to come and have fun.

In attendance at UMix this past Friday, LSA sophomore Katie Gauthier said she and her friend, LSA freshman Elizabeth Swindle, come to almost every UMix event because the specific activities offered, like the wax hands students could make at Friday’s event, are a fun alternative to going out.

“We don’t drink, and there’s not a lot to do on a Friday night if we don’t drink,” Gauthier said.

Though UMix is a non-alcoholic event — as are all programs administered by UUAP — even students who have been drinking are welcome to stop by and get food before heading home, Heilmeier said.

“We don’t advertise it as a non-alcoholic event because it’s not about the drinking,” he said. “The event is about students coming together and having fun.”

Other events on campus, however, are more explicit alternatives to drinking. Students for Recovery, a campus organization established almost two years ago, advocates sobriety and lends support to students recovering from drug and alcohol addiction.

“Our purpose is really just to promote an overall wellness on campus and to promote an alternative to the social culture here,” Jennifer Cervi, a master’s student in the School of Social Work and the group’s president, said.