Healthy Campus — the educational arm of Student Health Services — has prepared robust in-person and virtual programming in conjunction with National College Alcohol Awareness Week, observed Oct. 18-22.
“Our goals have been to start a dialogue about alcohol use among college students, offer educational activities about how to create a more inclusive and safe environment around its use and to provide substance-free spaces to build community,” said McKenzie McNamara, associate director of Healthy Campus. “Students can join activities such as yoga for 12-step recovery, bystander intervention trainings and roundtable conversations. By offering a wide range of activities, topics and modalities we hope all students can find a way to engage with us this year.”
The programming got underway with an overview of the week at 10 a.m. in Cooper Library on Monday, Oct. 18. Also on Monday, Anderson Yoga Studio will be on-site in the lounge at Smith Hall hosting a 12-step recovery session. Throughout the course of the week, students are invited to join sessions focusing on the college drinking culture, stress and substance use, personal decision-making and nutrition — among much more.
National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week also provides a couple of touch points for faculty and staff members. A roundtable discussion on creating positive environments will be held in the Brown room of Cooper Library on Wednesday, Oct. 20 from 12-1 p.m. In addition, faculty and staff are invited to register on the same day from 1:15-2:15 p.m. for a special session on INTERVENE, a bystander intervention program utilized by Fraternity and Sorority Life among all new members. Employees will see scenarios that demonstrate successful bystander intervention in problematic situations and have the opportunity to engage in facilitated conversation to reflect on attitudes and behaviors that influence intervention.