Book excerpt: This study contributes new literature to the small, but growing body of research regarding Asian-American college drinking. This study sought to discover how ethnicity mediates the relationship between alcohol expectancies, personality traits, and alcohol use. Participants were 843 incoming freshman at a private university who self-identified as either Caucasian (78.8%) or Asian (21.2%). Participants were asked to complete a demographics questionnaire, the Behavioral Inhibition/Behavioral Activation Scale (BIS/BAS), and the Alcohol Expectancy Inventory (AEI). Chi-square tests were used to examine differences in rates of heavy episodic drinking. One-way MANCOVAs were used to examine differences in alcohol expectancies, and one-way ANCOVAs were used to examine personality traits between the two ethnicities. Lastly, path analyses using logistic regression and multiple regression models were used to identify pathways to alcohol use with ethnicity as a potential mediating variable. Results indicate that Asians drank less than Caucasians, initiated drinking at a later age, and abstained more from alcohol compared to their Caucasian counterparts. For those that reported drinking behavior in the past 90 days, 55.8% of Caucasians met criteria for HED, compared to 34.0% of Asians. Although Asians had far less HED behavior, there were no significant differences in alcohol expectancies or personality sensitivities between the two ethnicities. The results highlight that Asian-American college students, who have generally been labeled as "model minorities", may activate the same expectancies as Caucasian college students. Ethnicity was found to be a mediating variable between the Social, Woozy, and Dangerous expectancies and alcohol use, but was not a mediator for the other five expectancies. Attractive and Woozy expectancies were found to be significant mediators between behavioral activation sensitivities and alcohol use. Dangerous, Sick, and Egotistical expectancies were found to be significant mediators between behavioral inhibition sensitivities and alcohol use. Although these two groups share similar factors predictive of alcohol use, these findings demonstrate that there are nuanced differences in how ethnicity is a mediating factor between expectancies (social, woozy, dangerous), personality traits, and alcohol use. College prevention and intervention efforts should be focused on culturally-sensitive programs targeting specific expectancies.