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UM's Shalala Not Signing On To Lower Drinking Age
Parents, Students Decidedly Split On The Idea
Click here to see which presidents support the initiative
Read the official statement

(CBS4) ― More than one hundred university presidents, including Duke University, the University of Maryland, and Syracuse University, have signed a petition they believe may spark a movement to reduce the drinking age from 21-years-old to 18-years-old.

Many college students welcome the debate, but there has been mixed reactions to the proposal, including stiff opposition from groups like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

The movement is called the Amethyst initiative. The word amethyst, the group says, "is derived from the ancient Greek words meaning "not" (a-) and "intoxicated" (methustos)."

Supporters believe that 21 isn't working as a minimum drinking age because it fosters binge drinking off college campuses.

"The conclusion of these presidents is that it's important to find a way to take the underground drinking that is forced by the 21 and over drinking age, and find a way to bring it back up above ground," said Dennis O'Shea of John Hopkins University.

Students interviewed had mixed feelings, some saying the drinking minimum age is fine and some saying that decriminalizing drinking at an early age will only avoid problems.

Locally, the president of Johnson and Wales's all 4 campuses signed the initiative.

"I am advocating that it is time to take a different course of action, as it is clear the current measures are not addressing the problem," said John Bowen, President of Johnson & Wales University.

But University of Miami President Donna Shalala says she won't be supporting the initiative.

Shalala told the Associated Press, "To shift it back down to the high schools makes no sense at all."

While states might be able to change the drinking age none have since 1984. According to the Amethyst Initiative, that was the year Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act. The bill threatened any state lowering the drinking age to under 21 with losing 10 percent of the state's federal highway money.

The United States has the highest drinking age in the world, along with Indonesia and Mongolia. In some foreign countries, the drinking age is as low as 16-years-old.