An official from Florida's Mothers Against Drunk Driving spoke out Monday against the coalition of university presidents that are calling for public review of the national drinking age.
Donald Murray, Florida MADD's executive director, called for two Florida schools, Saint Leo University and Eckerd College, to withdraw their names from the Amethyst Initiative in an opinion piece Monday.
"Abandoning laws that protect our youth and the community at-large is no answer and frankly, is a terrible idea," Murray wrote in the opinion piece.
However, the university presidents who have signed on to the petition say that the drinking age doesn't effectively curb binge drinking.
"It's very important that we have an open, national discussion because the law isn't working well enough," said Arthur F. Kirk Jr., president of Saint Leo University, in a news release.
"It isn't stopping students from drinking, and there's some evidence it may be contributing to binge drinking occurring off campuses."
