Alcohol Awareness Day Educated and Engaged Students

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Corporal Brett Waddell of UAPD rode with Todd Jenkins, assistant director of Greek Life as he tested out the impaired driving simulation wearing goggles equivalent to a .25 BAC (blood alcohol content). Students watched in astonishment as Jenkins ran over three traffic cones.

Alcohol Awareness Day was a collaborative event that brought together the department of wellness and health promotion, Greek Life, and UAPD held during National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week.

Debbie Morgan, coordinator of substance abuse prevention at the Pat Walker Health Center believes the event, "provided an opportunity to highlight important topics relevant to situations students may experience and to help them have a better understanding of bystander intervention and risk reduction strategies, alternatives to drinking alcohol as well as the dangers of drinking and driving.

It was also a good way to showcase the different peer education groups across campus, SEAR (Substance Education and Alcohol Resources), RESPECT (Rape Education Services by Peers Encouraging Conscious Thought), and GAMMA (Greeks Advocating for Mature Management of Alcohol) as they work to bring awareness to our campus about alcohol consumption."

Over 700 fraternity and sorority members in attendance prepared a variety of non-alcoholic drinks in a competition between chapters to determine who could make the best 'mocktail'! GAMMA co-event coordinator and U of A senior, Nik Birchfield said, "the main goal is to show that you don't need alcohol to have a good time."

Kennedy Murphy, U of A sophomore and SEAR peer educator said at the event, "we are here today to help students know when to step up, keeping yourself and others safe is what bystander intervention is all about."

U of A freshmen and RESPECT interns, Nichole Warren and Nicholas Denny took the opportunity to speak with students about the correlation between alcohol and sexual assault. "Alcohol is involved in 90 percent of college rape cases," said Warren. "Reasoning senses are gone when someone is incapacitated, and that creates an imbalance of power," added Denny.

UAPD set up an impaired driving simulation using a golf cart, a traffic cone obstacle course, and alcohol and drug impairment goggles. Individuals drove through the course without goggles, and then drove through a second time with goggles.

"It is an interactive, intentional and, educational experience that every student should try," said Todd Jenkins, assistant director of Greek Life who participated in the simulation. Jenkins reflected, "you're confident that you're going the right way but in reality the more alcohol you consume, the less control you have."