Mo Phillips

Director of Student Involvement

I Want To See You Walk Across That Stage On Your Commencement Day

Working with college students for the past 30+ years, I have seen a lot, heard a lot, felt a lot, supported people a lot, and have held people accountable for a lot of poor choices.

There are so many things that come up on a daily basis in our world of Student Affairs that we deal with, and then move on. But then there are also things that once we deal with them, we try to move on but we can’t. There are students, families, and experiences that we observe, or are a part of, that we deal with and are so hard to move on from. I realize that part of my not being able to move on is that when a young person makes choices that affect not only them, but potentially others as well, there is a burden and a regret. Most of the time, it’s not life or death, but sometimes it is and those are the ones I hold on too.

Alcohol use, misuse, and abuse is one of those things that I have never really found a way to move on from; especially when it takes a life, or even worse, sometimes leaves someone in a state of living a life that they never imagined. A life that serves as a constant reminder to them, and those around them, of what one bad choice or decision has resulted in, but also what one good decision could have prevented. I think of this at the beginning of every year as we welcome new students into our Seawolf Community, with the hopes and expectations that four years from now, we will be celebrating them at their commencement.

Over the years, I have gone to funerals of, or have mourned, too many students whose lives had been cut short, or severely impacted, for issues related to alcohol use, abuse, or misuse. There were a variety of scenarios, from alcohol overdoses, to being hit by a drunk driver, to falling off the balcony of a fraternity house, to going to the store for more alcohol in the early hours of the morning while under the influence, taking a wrong turn and hitting another vehicle, and putting his best friend in a vegetative state. That was an incident that happened in 2009, but as of Sept. 28, 2020, he is still suffering with a severe TBI associated with the accident that happened on Valentine’s Day 11 years ago. His dad still journals about his progress today.

Did You Know?

Almost 2000 college students between the ages of 18-24 die each year from unintentional alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes.
In 2017, fatal crashes were the highest percentage for drivers ages 21 to 24 (27 percent), followed by ages 25 to 34 (26 percent) and 35 to 44 (23 percent).
According to several reports, an estimated 18% of drivers under the age of 21 have admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol

NHTS’s Traffic Safety Facts and the Department of Transportation data

Between 2003-2011, there were 119,100 drunk driving fatalities
- In the country, California ranks 2nd, with 13,138 drunk driving fatalities
- In 2017, 16-24 year olds comprised 42% of the drivers killed in alcohol related incidents
- Each year, an estimated 97,000 students between the ages of 18 & 24 are the victims of alcohol related sexual assault or date rape.

Source: MADD.com

Back The Pack! - Bystander Intervention

This video has some great examples of how you might interrupt something that’s not quite right.

Bystander effect

Research in psychology shows that the more people present, the less likely people are to help in an emergency situation (Darley & Latane, 1968). We need to actively choose to overcome the bystander effect and intervene when we witness unhealthy behaviors, comments or emergency situations. Doing so visibly makes it easier for others to help intervene also.

Bystander intervention

Bystander intervention involves intervening before, during, or after a situation where we witness inappropriate behaviors. Bystander intervention fosters a safe environment by challenging unhelpful norms and beliefs within your community groups and interrupting unsafe situations. For example, we can challenge rape jokes, inappropriate sexual comments or inappropriate sexual behavior that we come across in everyday life.

Bystander intervention involvement:

Notice that something is happening
- Examples:
  - Distract the person acting inappropriately
  - Directly address the issue (tell the person that their behavior is not okay)
  - Delegate for someone else to help out (ask a friend, RA, or the police for help)
  - Delay - if it’s too dangerous, wait for the situation to pass, and make sure the victim is okay. You can also report the incident to the police.
  - Intervene safely.

My passion about educating students in regards to alcohol use, abuse, and misuse is very personal. I lost my dad when I was 7 years old. HE was the drunk driver. HE was in a coma when they brought him in and was going to live the rest of his life in a vegetative state, so my mom had to make some really hard decisions about the quality of his life. He not only killed himself in the crash, as our neighbor was with him in the car, he didn’t die, but he hasn’t been the same since. He and his family have had to navigate his Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) for more than 40 years. That night two families and our extended family’s lives were changed forever because of one decision.

This week is Alcohol Awareness Week at SSU. We intentionally host it the week prior to Halloween as we know that Halloween is a time that some people in our community will use as an excuse to drink, and we know some will be in a position of having to make some choices about what they will do, where they will go, what they might drink etc… Remember folks, you are still you when the costume comes off.

Make good choices Seawolves, I want to see you walk across that stage on your commencement day.

Source Citation: Canterbury.ac.nz

Alcohol Awareness Week Events