Students attending fraternity parties during the spring semester may have an additional beverage choice, after the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team secured funding last Tuesday to provide water coolers at fraternity parties.
The Office of Health Promotion's Social Norms Marketing Division agreed to fund ADAPT's initiative, Social Norms Marketing Coordinator Jennifer Bauerle said.
"What we're attempting to do is to have [the coolers] in a location to make water as prevalent as alcoholic drinks," ADAPT member Abigail Atwood said. "It will serve as an alternative to alcoholic drinks and make the atmosphere more inviting for people who don't drink at all."
Consuming water in addition to alcohol is also a safety measure, Atwood said.
"If you alternate an alcoholic beverage with a non-alcoholic beverage, that tends to be a less risky way to consume," Bauerle said. "Some people also just want to have water to drink, so it serves an all-around purpose."
Atwood and ADAPT Advisor Marianne Bonday, assistant director for the Center of Alcohol and Substance Education, met with Bauerle to discuss funding assistance.
"We're very happy to support ADAPT," Bauerle said.
Bonday was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Although pricing details have yet to be finalized, Atwood estimated that a seven-gallon cooler will cost between $30 and $35.
ADAPT Chair Kathy Radd has been discussing the exact number of coolers needed and implementation methods with Inter-Fraternity Council President Ryan Ewalt.
"We haven't exactly decided how much we want to push [the water coolers] as a mandatory practice," Radd said. "We don't want to force anything upon them."
Radd said she plans to hold future meetings with IFC members to discuss the likelihood of passing a formal mandatory rule.
"If they don't think a [water cooler] mandate will pass, then we won't push it that way," she said. "If they do think it will pass, then we will push it that way."
Radd said she hopes to have the implementation plan finalized this semester and see the water coolers in place by next semester.
"The IFC has been really supportive from the time that ADAPT brought the idea up," CASE Director Susan Bruce said. "We are just really impressed with this example of student self-governance -- it's all been student to student interaction."
IFC Spokesperson Scott Cohen said it is feasible for the IFC to informally implement the coolers by the spring.
"We are examining both making it a voluntary program and making it a required program," Ewalt said. "We're exploring both of those avenues and with the [chapter] presidents we're going to determine which avenue is more appropriate."
Read More
Shots fired reported at 100 block of Harmon Street, no injuries reported
By Thomas Baxter | 4 days agoThis is the first community alert of June.
Full Board discusses financial aid challenges, medical research and entrepreneurship
By Thomas Baxter | 5 days agoBoard members discussed the Pan-University Entrepreneurship Initiative, a project that aims to help develop more entrepreneurial ventures at the University.
Finance Committee approves 2024-25 operating budget and Major Capital Plan
By Zackary Holt | 5 days agoThe proposed 2024-25 fiscal year budget for the Academic Division includes a 6.8 percent increase in spending over the previous year.
