Every year, ULM raises awareness about alcohol and anti-hazing. ULM Greeks and Student Life and Leadership hosted an entire week of events and activities centered around promoting healthy alcohol habits and demoting hazing practices.
From Monday until Thursday, Greek members hosted events such as “Roll over truck,” a social media challenge that challenged students to take pictures with their respective organizations and lawn signs around campus which featured positive phrases and an alcohol awareness/hazing prevention forum.
First-year pharmacy student Brea Mcquarn said that she really appreciated that ULM took the time to host these events in an effort to help the student body.
“Having events and parties with alcohol can be fun, but realizing that alcohol is a drug and seriously dangerous is super important,” Mcquarn said.
Mcquarn and other members of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., attended the forum last Thursday and were shocked at the number of alcohol-related deaths and the number of hazing-related fatalities.
“My sorority is an anti-hazing organization. We do not condone it under any circumstances.” Mcquarn said that she’s glad her sorority has implemented these rules, because she knows that it’s saving lives.
And there is only one, according to state trooper Micheal Reichardt, one of the speakers at the forum.
Reichardt told the students that one of his responsibilities as a state trooper is to make death notifications to families of fatal car crash victims. In Ouachita Parish, Reichardt worked eight alcohol fatal car crash cases. He had to announce those deaths to the victim’s families. At the end of his speech, Reichardt urged students to act responsibly while drinking alcohol. Reichardt encouraged the students to make the right choices, because “the choices you make today will and can affect tomorrow.”
Bill Baldridge, another speaker at the forum, understood how important choices are and how they can affect lives. Baldridge is a double amputee victim due to an alcohol-related crash. He and his friends were driving under the influence which resulted in an accident that killed his two friends and left him the sole survivor. Baldridge’s story left audience members in tears.
“Kids tend to lose their mind when they go away to college, and that’s fine, but I really hope they try to make the right decisions when their parents aren’t watching,” Baldridge said.
Taylor Witherspoon, senior vocal performance major and member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., said that ULM needs to make these forums a habitual event. She did not realize that these issues are widespread among college students.
“I think college students need to understand that although we feel invincible when we’re drunk and that we can do anything, we all need to understand that driving under the influence is dangerous and potentially fatal,” Witherspoon said.
Student Life and Leadership hopes to have more events like this in the future and hope that students take heed to the advice and warnings.