Though new to the Parkland campus, Hecker had an opinion about lowering the national drinking age from 21 to 18, which would make him old enough to consume alcohol legally.

He said college students are generally responsible enough not to abuse the right.

“I think if it was lowered to 18, that would still be reasonable because (students) understand they’re going to school, not partying,” Hecker said.

An initiative signed by presidents of about 100 U.S. universities has been met with a range of views at PLU, a private liberal arts school with policies establishing it as a dry campus for students of all ages.

The Amethyst Initiative quietly recruited U.S. college presidents for more than a year in order to foster national debate about the drinking age. The presidents, including leaders of Syracuse, Ohio State and Duke, say the current age is not working and only encourages underground drinking.

PLU President Loren Anderson was the only Washington state academic to sign the initiative. He told a reporter Monday that he thinks the issue needs to be studied and discussed to decide if an older drinking age encourages “drinking as sport.”

Maren Anderson, a 21-year-old PLU senior, said the initiative will simply open discussion on the drinking age. She agrees that it needs a change.

“I think (President Anderson’s) aim in signing is that he’s really emphasizing the fact that this is a discussion about the health of American college students that needs to happen,” said Maren Anderson, editor of the school newspaper.

But 22-year-old Brian Price, a junior, said he’s adamant that the age should remain at 21.

“I’m saddened” by the initiative “because that just makes younger students feel like, ‘Oh, maybe there’s hope for me to be able to drink younger,’” said Price, who was working at the counter in the weight room Tuesday. “I see kids that are underage drink all the time, and it’s sad because it’s an epidemic, basically.”

PLU’s campus safety policies forbid alcohol possession except at the president’s residence, at the faculty house and for approved religious worship.

The policies state: “The university reserves the right to confiscate and dispose of alcoholic beverages and/or containers found on the premises. All students found in possession of alcoholic beverages on campus will be referred for campus disciplinary action.”

Senior Michael Lasher said that despite the rules, he’s aware of frequent drinking in PLU dorms. He was surprised by the college president’s support of the national initiative in light of PLU’s long-standing dry campus policy, but he said he does agree with the objective.

Lasher, who was working in the school cafeteria Tuesday, said lowering the age would take away the forbidden-fruit effect that some underage kids experience when drinking.

“I do think it would take away some of the appeal,” the 21-year-old said, “because they know they’re doing something they can’t do otherwise.”