On Oct. 16 at 6:30 p.m., the ladies of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. (SGR)
partnered with Francis Marion University’s (FMU) campus police in Leatherman
Science Facility (LSF) to help raise awareness of the effects of alcohol consumption.
Sponsored by SGR, the Turn Down! For What?? event allowed students to learn
about the risks, health issues and laws concerning excess alcohol consumption both
on campus and off campus.
Jasmine Green, senior psychology major and SGR vice president, said that this was
the second alcohol awareness event they have hosted on campus. Green said that
next year, the sorority will do another event that will also include information about
recreational drug use.
Victoria Moulterie, senior mass communications major and SGR president, said that
she wanted the opportunity to share some statistics and facts with the students at
FMU after writing a report on alcohol poisoning on other college campuses.
“I had just been hearing the phrase ‘turn up’ so often that I decided to approach
campus police and do an event called ‘turn down, for what’ to show what the risks
are of being turned up,” Moulterie said.
Moulterie also said that the purpose of the event was to raise awareness of heavy
alcohol consumption in the college community. The event was also intended to
debunk alcohol related myths and to show how drinking effects decision making.
Alcohol impairs the central nervous system leading to several health risks and
academic risks. Alcohol can also take away the ability to focus on work and can
result in a poor GPA.
Moore said that there have been over 350 alcohol related incidences on the FMU
campus in the past three years. He said that the key to drinking responsibly was to
pay attention to serving sizes on alcohol containers and to not exceed the
recommended serving sizes.
“Drinking is a big thing on the FMU campus and a lot of people do get in trouble for
alcohol related incidences,” Moulterie said. “We wanted to create awareness of
drinking habits and how it can lead to alcohol poisoning.”
“Campus police are more informative [than guest speakers from the community]
because they deal with alcohol related incidences first hand and have seen the bad,
legal and medical sides of alcohol poisoning,” Moulterie said.
Moore described different scenarios he had encountered with intoxicated students
on campus. “If you find your friend passed out drunk, do not leave them to sleep it
off,” Moore said. “They could easily cut off their airway leaning on things [sinks or
trash cans] for support or asphyxiate on their own vomit. Seek medical attention
immediately if you suspect someone may be suffering from alcohol poisoning.”
At the event, information was distributed addressing the current alcohol related
laws in South Carolina as well as at FMU, and campus police passed out copies of
the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy that contains a breakdown of
all campus crimes committed since 2010. All of the information is available for
students in the campus police office located near LSF and The Grille.