Sober in October events provide alcohol education in residence halls
Courtesy photo
Throughout this Halloween season, residence halls across campus have been hosting events for “Sober in October.”
This is a month-long program dedicated to educating students on the effects and dangers of binge drinking. Events included everything from “Caramel Apples and Alcohol Facts” to the “Legends of the Dark” haunted campus tour.
“I think it supports our mission to help students find alternatives to going out and drinking,” said Kim Voisin, Assistant Director of Residence Life. “Part of it is simply alcohol education so that students make better choices if they do find themselves in a situation where they may be consuming. We promote abstinence if you’re not of age, but we understand that students may choose to do things anyway so a lot of these programs have a lot of educational components to (sex education) as well.”
Events for the program began October 6th with Barnes Hall’s “Club Kitchenette” and will run until Oct. 31, ending with Larzelere’s Haunted Maze at 9 p.m. on Halloween night.
“We do a big push during October because it tends to be a time when a lot of students are exploring, so we want to focus our energies there,” Voisin said.
Recent events included Beddow Hall’s “I Came For the Boo’s”, a haunted house style event that led students through various alcohol-related scenarios.
Freshman Addison Cowling from Granger, Indiana, was at a Sober in October event called “I Came for the Boo’s.”
“I just hope people see that this is the environment you’re going to be in," Cowling said. "It’s not just to prevent people from (drinking), but also to open people’s eyes to things they don’t necessarily think about.”
The event was organized by Beddow’s residence hall council, including hall council president Erica Benham, a sophomore from Cedar Springs.
“I hope people will learn the effects of college drinking and how an innocent night of fun where you ‘just came for the booze’ can go horribly, horribly wrong,” said Benham. “We do want to have fun here, but we also really want people to understand that these are real things that happen to real people and it’s not a joking matter.
