With the Spring Break vacation looming, the Florida A&M University Counseling Center is making sure students know just how important it is to protect themselves during the fun-filled week.
In an effort to encourage Florida A&M University students to have fun but also be safe, the Counseling Center has organized Spring Break Safety and Awareness Day, a series of events meant to capture the realities of drunk driving.
The safety seminar begins this morning at 11 a.m. with a mock wreck on the corner of Wahnish and Gamble Street. It will be followed by a mock funeral procession from the accident scene to ‘The Set’ at 11:45 a.m., and a repast after the service.
Information from organizations including the FAMU police department, the student health center and the housing department will be available on ‘The Set’ throughout the day.
“Over the years there’s been an increase of students not making it back,” explained Rhome Francis, 21, a junior criminal justice student from Miami who will play the role of the victim in this year’s mock wreck.
According to madd.org, each year 2.1 million college students have driven under the influence of alcohol and more than 1,700 students between the ages of 18-24 are killed from alcohol-related injuries, including motor vehicle crashes. The Campus Counseling Center is out to make sure that no students from FAMU are added to that list.
“A lot of times, students feel invincible,” says Crime Prevention Officer Sherri Luke. ” What they don’t understand is that all it takes is one too many drinks to change their lives.”
This isn’t the universities first attempt to raise campus awareness on drunk driving with a dramatic production.
Kenya Frasier, 19, remembers last year’s mock accident. The Sophomore English student said the authenticity of the accident made a n instant impression. “I thought it was real at first,” said the sophomore English student from Austin, TX. “It definitely made me think.”