Renowned William Smith College Professor Alan Berkowitz will be speaking to members of the Community Relations Coalition, the Responsible Hospitality Council and others at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

“Having him come is not so much to speak to each of us as individuals, but giving us a plan on how to meet the challenges in the future,” Community Relations Coalition President Nancy Schertzing said.

Berkowitz has helped MSU and other universities develop their alcohol-abuse prevention programs, based on his Social Norms Marketing approach.

That program highlights the statistic that most students use alcohol responsibly, and only a minority abuse liquor, said Jasmine Greenamyer, health educator for Olin Health Center.

For the past five years, campuses around the nation have been using Berkowitz’s Social Norms program. MSU joined on two years ago. “For those of us in the health field, it is really neat to see the application result,” Greenamyer said.