When “The College Experience” Becomes a Death Sentence: Remembering Lucas Mattson

GenZers are drinking less, except at college it seems. Lucas Mattson should be alive. He froze to death after attempting to walk home at 1:00am after leaving a party, reported intoxicated.

Lucas Mattson was a 19-year-old sophomore engineering major at the University of Michigan, originally from Alaska, who reported lived near campus and was remembered as smart, friendly, and kind. On January 23, 2026, he left an event around 1:00 a.m., reportedly intoxicated, underdressed for extreme cold, and walking alone toward his residence. He was not reported missing until the next day and was found deceased on January 24 in a backyard. Authorities reported no signs of foul play, with extreme cold believed to be a contributing factor, prompting renewed concerns about bystander responsibility and student safety.

If Mattson wasn’t reportedly drunk he'd likely still be alive. GenZers are drinking less in general, except in Greek Life on college campuses and large states schools (for some reason). I can’t figure out why. There is an enduring association with getting drunk and “the college experience.” If we don’t decouple this more and more students are doing to die.

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Alcohol, Abandonment, and the Formation Crisis of College Men

American colleges continue to treat alcohol as a rite of passage rather than a predictable source of moral and psychological injury. Between 2022 and 2025, a pattern emerged in the deaths of college men who consumed alcohol in social and fraternity settings. These deaths were not primarily failures of policy but failures of formation, responsibility, and moral imagination.

Brendan Santo drowned with a blood alcohol level of 0.22 after leaving a Michigan State social event alone, his body discovered months later in the Red Cedar River. At Penn State, Ryan O’Malley died after a drinking game that rewarded excess and punished restraint. At the University of Kentucky, Thomas Lofton Hazelwood consumed roughly eighteen pours of alcohol in under an hour during a fraternity event later described as voluntary, though structured by powerful coercive norms.

In 2024, Akul Dhawan froze to death in Illinois after drinking, declining rides, and being left alone in subzero temperatures. Riley Strain drowned after separating from his fraternity formal in Nashville with a blood alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit. Won Jang drowned after drinking at a Dartmouth-affiliated social event when no one noticed he was missing. In 2025, George Salinas died after heavy drinking at an overcrowded fraternity party near a pool at UC Berkeley.

These cases are not anomalies. Federal data estimate more than fifteen hundred annual alcohol-related deaths among college-aged students. Until alcohol culture is confronted as a formation crisis rather than a liability problem, young men will continue to die alone, surrounded by people who assumed someone else would act.

GenZ Is Drinking Less (expect for large state schools and Greek like)

Something remarkable is happening at college parties, music festivals, and happy hours across America. The red Solo cups are still there, but increasingly they contain sparkling water instead of beer. The bar tabs at concerts are plummeting when the crowd skews young. Where previous generations might have bonded over keg stands and late-night bar crawls, today’s young adults are just as likely to meet for coffee, hit a fitness class, or gather at one of the growing number of sober bars opening in cities from New York to Austin.

This is not a minor blip in social behavior. Generation Z, those born roughly between 1997 and 2012, is drinking substantially less alcohol than any generation in modern American history. According to Gallup data, the share of adults under age 35 who report drinking alcohol dropped ten percentage points in two decades, from 72 percent in 2001-2003 to 62 percent in 2021-2023. Among the youngest cohort, the shift is even more pronounced. Research shows that Gen Z consumes about one-third less beer and wine than previous generations, and studies from the UK find that fewer than one in five teenagers report ever drinking alcohol, down from two-thirds just two decades ago.

The Risk-Averse Society We Have Created

The most common explanation offered for Gen Z’s sobriety is health consciousness. Indeed, nearly two-thirds of young adults aged 18-24 report worrying about the emotional impact of alcohol, and a similar number say they want to learn more about drinking mindfully. Roughly a quarter choose low- and no-alcohol drinks because of their lower calorie content or added functional benefits like prebiotics and vitamins. But this attention to health is not occurring in a vacuum. It reflects a generation raised within what sociologists describe as an increasingly risk-averse culture.

Consider the context in which Gen Z came of age. These are young people who have grown up under constant surveillance, from baby monitors to tracking apps to the omnipresent eye of social media. They have witnessed the 2008 financial crisis devastate their parents’ economic security, experienced a global pandemic that upended their formative years, and now face a housing market and job landscape marked by extraordinary uncertainty. They have been told, repeatedly and from multiple directions, that one wrong step could derail their entire future.

This is what the peer-reviewed research calls the emergence of “Generation Sensible,” a cohort characterized by heightened risk awareness and what sociologist Anthony Giddens termed a “preoccupation with possible negative future outcomes.” When every action might be photographed, posted, and preserved in digital perpetuity, when economic stability feels perpetually out of reach, when mental health crises among peers are common knowledge, the decision to abstain from alcohol becomes not merely a health choice but a form of self-protection.

As researchers note, “As digital natives, Gen Z and millennials are acutely aware of the lasting impact of their digital footprints. Growing up under the constant gaze of social media, they understand that actions, especially those influenced by alcohol, can be immortalized online.” In this environment, sobriety becomes rational self-preservation.

Individualization and the Burden of Choice

But the story goes deeper than risk avoidance. Gen Z’s relationship with alcohol illuminates what sociologists Ulrich Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim call “individualization,” the process by which people are freed from traditional social structures and roles but simultaneously burdened with the responsibility of constructing their own biographies through continuous choice-making.

Previous generations inherited more scripted life pathways. For Baby Boomers, drinking was woven into the cultural fabric of adulthood and social belonging. It was what you did at office parties, backyard barbecues, and weekend gatherings. The choice was not whether to drink but how much. For Gen Z, that script has dissolved. As one physician specializing in addiction medicine observed, “There was a time where drinking some alcohol was a badge of maturity and was sophisticated. But now, it’s only one out of a whole range of ways that people can relax or show sophistication.”

This represents a fundamental shift in how young people construct identity and community. Where alcohol once served as social glue and a marker of belonging, Gen Z has access to an unprecedented array of alternatives. Cannabis is now legal for recreational use in nearly half of U.S. states, with nearly 80 percent of Americans living in a county with at least one dispensary. Social media platforms offer community and connection without leaving home. Wellness culture promotes everything from yoga to meditation to biohacking as paths to self-optimization.

Economic Pressures and the Myth of Wellness

We would be mistaken to read Gen Z’s drinking habits solely through the lens of health consciousness or cultural sophistication. Economic factors play a crucial, if often understated, role. Almost a third of young people report choosing low- and no-alcohol drinks simply because they cost less than alcoholic versions. Many explicitly cite avoiding alcohol to save money or prevent the productivity loss of hangovers.

This generation came of age during the Great Recession, witnessed the student debt crisis firsthand, and now faces housing costs that consume unprecedented portions of income. In such circumstances, the decision to forgo a $12 cocktail or a $40 bar tab is not merely about health optimization. It is about economic survival in a system that offers less stability and fewer guarantees than what previous generations experienced.

The wellness framing, then, may serve a dual function. It allows young people to reframe economic constraint as personal empowerment, to transform “I cannot afford this” into “I choose not to consume this.” This is not to suggest bad faith on anyone’s part. Rather, it points to how deeply economic uncertainty has penetrated the psyche of this generation, shaping even their most intimate choices about leisure and pleasure.

What We Lose When We Stop Gathering

One of the more troubling aspects of declining alcohol consumption receives less attention in the celebratory narratives about “Generation Sensible.” As researchers note, “Alcohol tends to be a social drug, even for young people, so part of the decline in underage drinking could be related to less in-person socializing.”

This points to a broader crisis of social isolation that predates but has been intensified by the pandemic. Gen Z reports higher rates of loneliness, anxiety, and depression than previous generations. They spend more time online and less time in face-to-face interaction. While sober socializing at cafes and fitness classes offers alternatives to bar culture, we must ask whether these alternatives provide the same depth of community formation and social bonding.

Historically, alcohol has served as what sociologists call a “social lubricant,” easing the awkwardness of initial encounters and facilitating the vulnerability required for deep friendship. Bars and pubs functioned as what sociologist Ray Oldenburg termed “third places,” spaces distinct from home and work where community could form organically. As these spaces decline and drinking becomes increasingly optional, we risk losing not just a substance but a social infrastructure.

This is not an argument for alcohol consumption. Alcohol causes tremendous harm, from addiction to drunk driving to domestic violence. But we should be honest about what might be lost alongside what is gained when an entire generation drinks substantially less. The challenge is whether we can create new forms of third places and new rituals of social bonding that do not rely on substance use but still foster genuine community.

The Questions We Are Not Asking

As public health researchers point out, the tobacco experience offers an instructive parallel and a cautionary tale. While the goal of a tobacco-free world enjoys broad consensus within public health circles, the ultimate aim of alcohol policy remains unclear. Does Gen Z’s moderation represent progress toward a future where alcohol plays a minimal role in social life? Should that be the goal?

These questions matter because they force us to grapple with deeper issues about human flourishing, pleasure, risk, and community. A society where young people drink less may have lower rates of alcohol-related harm, but we must also ask what other challenges it faces. The same generation that drinks less also reports epidemic levels of mental health struggles, social isolation, and economic anxiety.

Moreover, we must contend with the question of whether this trend will persist. Research from the United States shows that women born in the late 1970s and early 1980s consumed more alcohol as adults than both preceding and succeeding generations, despite drinking less as adolescents. The pressures that drive adult drinking, including stress, availability, affordability, and marketing, remain largely unchanged. As Gen Z ages into full adulthood with its attendant responsibilities and anxieties, will their youthful moderation persist?

The story of Gen Z’s relationship with alcohol is ultimately a story about how a generation navigates a world that simultaneously offers unprecedented freedom and imposes unprecedented precarity. They have been told they can be anything, do anything, choose anything, but they have also learned that the floor beneath them is far less stable than it was for their parents or grandparents.

In this context, choosing sobriety becomes more than a health decision. It is an attempt to maintain control in an uncontrollable world, to optimize the self when structural supports have eroded, to avoid risks when the margin for error feels vanishingly small. It reflects both genuine health consciousness and deep economic anxiety, both individual empowerment and social fragmentation.

Why College Students at Large State Schools and in Fraternities Still Binge Drink

While Generation Z as a whole is drinking significantly less alcohol than previous generations, a stark exception exists: college students at large state universities and those involved in Greek life continue to engage in high rates of binge drinking. This document synthesizes recent research to explain why these particular subcultures have resisted the broader generational trend toward sobriety.

Research published in peer-reviewed journals demonstrates that both selection and socialization effects work together in fraternity drinking culture. Individuals who are heavy drinkers before college may select fraternities with reputations for heavy drinking, while being a member of such fraternities serves to increase their heavy drinking. Studies show that students who do not previously binge drink are three times more likely to start doing so if they join a fraternity.

Staggering Statistics

The numbers reveal the severity of the problem: Nearly nine in every ten fraternity male members who reside in fraternity houses reported binge drinking in the past two weeks, compared to 32.4 percent of college young adults overall. A Harvard University study found that four out of five sorority and fraternity members are binge drinkers, compared to two out of five college students overall.

According to research on Greek life, compared with nonmembers, significantly more fraternity and sorority members (70 percent of men and 50 percent of women) engaged in binge drinking. The average number of drinks consumed per week is significantly higher for Greek members: 12 drinks per week for men and six drinks per week for women, compared to six drinks for non-Greek men and two drinks for non-Greek women.

Here’s what the research points to:

(1) Leadership Culture Perpetuates Heavy Drinking

Perhaps most troubling, a national study from Cornell University found that fraternity leaders are among the heaviest drinkers. Seventy-four percent of fraternity leaders reported episodes of binge drinking in the previous two weeks, and leaders consumed an average of 14 drinks per week. These are the very individuals who should theoretically be most concerned about liability and legal issues, yet they help set norms of binge drinking throughout their organizations.

(2) Parental Permissiveness as a Pre-College Factor

A recent Washington State University study published in December 2025 found that parents of students who joined fraternities or sororities were more permissive of alcohol use even before their students left home for college. This parental permissiveness is linked to greater alcohol use among college students, suggesting that Greek organizations attract students who already have more tolerant attitudes toward heavy drinking.

(3) Structural Factors That Enable Drinking

According to addiction researchers, Greek housing typically lacks resident assistants or rule enforcers to keep drinking levels down. Leaders of fraternities and sororities are upperclassmen who are still young people themselves.

The same source notes that approximately 55 percent of students who join fraternities, sororities, sports teams, or clubs face hazing, and excessive drinking is an all-too-common component of many hazing activities.

(4) Long-Term Health Consequences

The impact extends far beyond college years. Research shows that approximately 45 percent of young adult men who resided in fraternities had two or more alcohol use disorder symptoms in early midlife (age 35), reflecting criteria for mild or more severe AUD. This far exceeds the AUD rate for their peers, indicating that fraternity experience may be a sensitive period that sets the stage for long-term difficulties.

Why Large State Schools Have High Drinking Rates

Environmental and Cultural Factors

The Harvard School of Public Health College Alcohol Study, which tracked drinking patterns over 14 years, concluded that heavy drinking behavior was more common in college environments that have a strong drinking culture, few alcohol control policies on campus or in the surrounding community, weak enforcement of existing policies, and alcohol made easily accessible through low prices, heavy marketing and special promotions.

Researchers found that binge drinking levels remain remarkably stable at the same colleges over time, despite surveying new groups of students in each survey. This suggests there is something about certain college environments that promotes binge drinking, regardless of who attends.

Athletic Programs Drive Party Culture

The Harvard study found that campuses that emphasize intercollegiate athletics and fraternity and sorority life have higher levels of binge drinking. Large state schools often have prominent athletic programs that drive party culture and create expectations around drinking as part of the game-day experience.

The University Connection Paradox

Perhaps counterintuitively, recent research from Penn State, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Oregon found that students with average or good mental health were more likely to have engaged in binge drinking in the past month if they felt connected to their university than if they did not feel that connection.

As one researcher explained, “Connectedness gets students involved. It can be a really powerful protective factor against negative mental health outcomes and can help keep students in school. But connectedness at school can go hand in hand with binge drinking if there is a culture of drinking at the school.” At large state universities with established drinking cultures, feeling a sense of belonging may paradoxically increase drinking behavior.

The Power of Misperception

The Penn State study revealed a critical disconnect between perception and reality. Despite the fact that two-thirds of students had not engaged in binge drinking, students believed a typical student consumed three to five drinks multiple times each week. This misperception perpetuates drinking culture, as students overestimate how much their peers drink and feel pressure to keep up with an imaginary norm.

Geography and Alcohol Access

Location matters significantly. Research on college drinking identifies specific geographic factors. For example, the University of Texas is home to over 40,000 undergraduates, and Austin has more bars per capita than any other U.S. city. Sixty percent of Austin adults report past-month alcohol use and almost 25 percent report episodes of binge drinking or heavy drinking.

Similarly, studies of college towns show that Tulane University sees almost 90 percent of students report past-month drinking, with over 60 percent admitting to high-risk drinking episodes multiple times in two weeks. Over half of freshmen report high-risk drinking, which is double the rate of many other universities.

The Persistence of Drinking Culture

According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, alcohol consumption is highest among students living in fraternities and sororities and lowest among commuting students who live with their families. The physical living arrangement matters as much as the organizational affiliation. Simply relying on the broader generational trend toward moderation will not be sufficient to change these deeply embedded institutional cultures on college campuses.

My bottom line: we have to decouple binge drinking from the expectations of “the college experience” or we’ll have more Lucas Mattson’s to mourn.