This past week was recognized as National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week (NCAAW) on college campuses all around the nation. In the past, Auburn has joined other universities throughout the country in sponsoring NCAAW on our campus.

This year, the SGA Senate, and the entire SGA program in general, wanted to bring this initiative back to Auburn’s campus. They joined forces with the Office of Greek Life, Freshman Year Experience, Student Counseling Services and the Auburn University Parents’ Association to sponsor Alcohol Awareness Week on Auburn’s campus.
The event was aimed at promoting safety and creating awareness, responsibility and education about the effects of alcohol abuse, as well as providing ways to prevent it.

According to Clay Parker, SGA senator at large, the purpose of sponsoring Alcohol Awareness Week was to “encourage students to commit themselves to being responsible for their own well-being and that of fellow Auburn students...We want students to take advantage of the opportunities at Auburn University and to meet challenges and cultivate friendships in a safe environment.”

There have already been two Auburn students who have passed away this year due to alcohol-related events, so this is an issue that deeply affects all Auburn students. It is an extremely important subject upon which college-age people need to be educated.

Events were planned throughout the week to inform students about the effects of alcohol.

On Monday, Oct. 20, volunteers passed out fliers on alcohol education and prevention. There was also a wrecked vehicle displayed near the stadium parking deck so that passersby would recognize the real-life effects of driving under the influence.

On Tuesday the 21st a DUI simulator was brought onto campus. Students were able to get into the high-tech machine and simulate the experience of driving under the influence by wearing a 180-degree eyepiece.
Wednesday the 22nd was the final day of Auburn’s Alcohol Awareness Week, and it included the lighting of a luminary course. The luminaries began downtown at Toomer’s Corner and ran throughout campus. Students participated in the lighting of 1,500 candles, which represented the number of people who are likely to die nationwide in alcohol-related incidents in the month of October.

Allison McWilliams, one of 16 Panhellenic sorority presidents, said the events were very successful in promoting awareness in education. Panhellenic strongly encouraged its members to attend the Alcohol Awareness Week events and even offered spirit points for members who were in attendance.

Parker said that the week’s events were very successful and there was great participation and interest by the student body. “Aside from just giving students information that we’ve all heard since middle school, we wanted to add a visual effect to each of the week’s events in order to have a bigger impact,” he said. “With the wrecked vehicle, the DUI simulator and the luminary lighting, we were able to accomplish having that visual impact on students.”


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