We talk a lot about shifting the culture around alcohol and drug use and what it’s going to take to make this shift happen.
Real change requires student leadership and action. The Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention can provide alcohol and drug prevention programming for students throughout the year, Police Chief Shafer and his team can enforce the laws and school policies, and the President’s Commission , faculty and staff can create policies to address these issues, but students play the most important role in prevention. In order for prevention efforts to work, students must also participate in the process by choosing responsibility, holding each other accountable, putting a stop to unacceptable behavior, and keeping each other out of harm’s way.
As the year comes to a close, we, the Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention, would like to recognize the students who have stepped up to prevent alcohol-related problems on this campus, and we would like to encourage more students to get involved.
This fall, three outstanding seniors, Lizzie Brubaker, Brooks Powell and Patrick Kobler, developed a new program called Mustangs Who Care. This training challenges students to model responsibility in social settings and trains them to intervene when someone is misusing substances or needs help.
This student-led training helps students recognize the signs of alcohol poisoning and drug overdose, learn how to use SMU’s Call for Help program and know to call 911 when a fellow student is in distress. New trainers including Haynes Strader, Sam Aronowitz, Jake Torres, Mike Alberts, Erin Hedrick and others are currently preparing to take over this program for the fall.
This spring, the Interfraternity Council proposed a new policy requiring all new chapter members to participate in TIPS training. TIPS, Training for Intervention Procedures, is a two and a half hour course that gives students the skills to create safer social environments, prevent intoxication and intervene with those who are misusing alcohol.
Under the leadership of Haynes Strader, the proposal was passed and, to date, all but one IFC chapter has trained its new members. In total, around 900 SMU students have been TIPS trained this year. This is a huge step forward in preparing students to effectively and safely handle situations involving alcohol, life skills that everyone should possess.
Also in the works is another new initiative, Mustang Mentors. This program is designed to pair upperclassmen with first-year students to aid in the transition to college. The program gives first-year students a friend who has been in their shoes, knows all about SMU and can help them find their place in the SMU community. Mike Alberts and his team look forward to kicking off this prevention-based program in the fall.
We would also like to commend each student that intervened this year when they noticed a problem with someone’s use, called for help when someone was in distress, and modeled responsibility in social settings. You, too, are part of shifting the culture.
We challenge each student to get involved in prevention, whether it’s in a big way or a small one, whether it’s running a prevention program or asking a friend, “Are you okay?”
To find out how to get involved, come find us on the second floor of the Memorial Health Center or send an email to [email protected].
We would like to wish all of our students a safe, healthy and productive summer!
–Megan Knapp
John Sanger
Jan McCutchin
Center for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention
