Raising the bar: Institutions and Organizations Receive Accolades for Alcohol Prevention Excellence
3/11/2010
St. John’s University and Chi Omega Fraternity granted Highest Honors; awarded $10,000 donations
BOSTON, MA – March 11, 2010 – Outside The Classroom announced this week the recipients of the 2009-2010 Prevention Excellence Awards. Held annually, the Prevention Excellence Awards honors individuals, institutions, and Greek organizations that have achieved excellence in their alcohol prevention efforts, thus significantly improving the quality of student life.
Three institutions and three Greek organizations were recognized at a gala award ceremony at InterContinental Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. This year, St. John’s University, in Queens, NY and Chi Omega Fraternity were distinguished for their outstanding prevention success, receiving highest honors and a donation of $10,000 in the name of the team who helped develop and implement prevention programs. Dr. Kathryn Hutchinson, Executive Director of Student Wellness at St. John’s University, and Jean Mrasek, former national President of Chi Omega Fraternity, accepted the awards on behalf of their institution and organization.
Prevention Excellence Award finalists include University of Central Missouri and Eastern Illinois University, and Greek organizations Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity and Sigma Nu Fraternity. All applications were evaluated by a panel made up of previous Prevention Excellence Award recipients and nationally recognized prevention experts. Applications were evaluated on five criteria: the institution's prevention mindset, infrastructure (engagement, synergy, and program sustainability), planning, data collection, and evaluation.
The Prevention Excellence Awards also recognize an outstanding alcohol and other drug professional for his or her continued commitment to the field of alcohol prevention. The recipient of the 2009-2010 Outstanding AOD Professional Award was Maeghan Livaccari, Associate Director of Wellness Services at Tulane University.
Award recipients demonstrated their dedication to the health and safety of their students by implementing comprehensive alcohol prevention programs on their campuses. Their efforts included a variety of strategies, including AlcoholEdu and GreekLifeEdu, primary prevention programs that incorporate evidence-based prevention methods. The recipients implemented peer education programs and social marketing campaigns, while garnering stakeholders on campus and in the community on this issue. They also provided evidence of their program’s effectiveness using various evaluation methods, proving the positive impact of these initiatives.
“We are continually impressed with the progress being made in this field,” said Brandon Busteed, Founder and CEO of Outside The Classroom. “It is truly an honor to work with these individuals, institutions, and organizations that are leading the way in alcohol prevention on our nation’s campuses. Their outstanding work is raising the bar in how we define excellence.”
High-risk drinking continues to be one of the most significant, perennial challenges facing colleges and universities, making effective alcohol prevention programs an absolute necessity. Recent data from the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA) found that the problem of college drinking exceeds previous estimates. The report cites that more than 1,800 alcohol-related deaths, 550,000 alcohol-related injuries, and 95,000 alcohol-related sexual assaults, and 675,000 assaults by another student who has consumed alcohol happen each year among college students.
The Prevention Excellence Awards are sponsored by Outside The Classroom, Inc., founder of The Alcohol Prevention Coalition and developer of the AlcoholEdu suite of online prevention programs. For the past four years, the award program has been open exclusively to institutions and organizations that partner with Outside The Classroom, however, in 2010-2011 the program will be open to all higher education institutions and Greek organizations in the field. Recognizing there is a vast range of exemplary alcohol prevention programs in higher education, Outside The Classroom anticipates a strong group of applicants for next year’s program.
About Outside The Classroom
For nearly a decade, Outside The Classroom has been committed to strengthening the field of alcohol prevention by providing institutional leaders and their students with the information needed to develop well-informed, cost-effective strategies for reducing alcohol-related risk and preventing harm. Today, the organization’s flagship educational program, AlcoholEdu® for College, is used on over 500 campuses and by 36% of all first-year students at America’s higher education institutions. In 2008, Outside The Classroom launched The Alcohol Prevention Coalition to take on the larger scope of the work – providing institution-wide solutions to the key challenges threatening effective alcohol prevention. All of Outside The Classroom’s programs are developed under the leadership of national prevention expert William DeJong, PhD. For more information please visit www.outsidetheclassroom.com.
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