Making healthier choices
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Student members of the Safety Net Coalition. |
Although Loyola advocates and enforces Illinois state law and the University’s own alcohol policy, it’s still important to encourage responsible decision making and a healthy lifestyle. “Students are young adults who have the freedom and responsibility to make their own decisions, and they often consume alcohol even when it conflicts with the law,” says Cushman. The University’s new “Choice. Control. Character.” initiative is intended to reduce alcohol-related harms by promoting responsibility and self-control with regard to alcohol.
The initiative is part of Loyola’s Safety Net Coalition, a group of staff, faculty, students, and community members. The coalition has crafted a comprehensive plan to reduce drinking-related physical, academic, emotional, social, or legal harms. “The coalition realized we needed to improve communication about who we are and what we promote,” Cushman says. So the group enlisted the students in a public relations course taught by Herb Ritchell, assistant professor of communication, to come up with a plan to get coalition messages out.
“The students did a great job. We selected the ‘Choice. Character. Control.’ tagline because it really captures the spirit of what we’re about,” Cushman says.
The initiative includes campus alcohol policies, prevention education, interventions, and environmental modifications such as removal of on-campus liquor advertising.
To learn more about the initiative, visit www.luc.edu/ccc.