The National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week was held here on campus Oct. 15 -Oct. 19, as well as many other colleges across the country.
Gail Holby, Health Services coordinator, and BACCHUS held several events for Alcohol Awarness Week throughout the week including a DUI simulation, educational activities, and activities with the Northeast Highway Safety Program to inform and educate the campus about alcohol awareness.
“The DUI Simulator was pretty neat,” says sophomore criminology and psychology major Rhonda Lynch.
The DUI/DWI Car Simulator, which was located outside of the Student Union building, showed participants how their driving was without actually being under the influence or while even texting.
Another thing they held was a walk for the awareness. Students, faculty, and staff walked from the greenway, across the Market Street Bridge, through Kirby Park, and back around to campus.
“The turnout was really great, definitely more people than we expected,” said Elizabeth Bracco, sophomore pre-pharmacy and business administration major.
The club supplied 500 shirts for participants of the walk. All shirts were given out, and there were even participants without shirts walking. This year was the largest turnout to date for the walk, very many people got involved.
“I hope it impacts students,” Holby said. “It’s for kids to be aware that drinking isn’t everything, you can still have fun, be social, and have a good college experience without drinking.”
Statistics are showing that the social norms are changing. Students are not all participating in underage drinking in college.
“It’s really great how we could reach that many people on campus at one time,” Lynch said.
The awareness week is all about educating the students on the risks involving in severe underage drinking, that it can be harmful to not only one’s future, but their health. There are unfortunate consequences if students do not take caution.
“The point of this week is not about stop drinking,” Lynch said. “It’s about being aware of the dangers of excessive drinking.”