Grant aims to improve game day environment

With the implementation of the NCAA’s CHOICES grant , University of Minnesota administrators say they hope to improve the game day environment with the return of football to campus this fall by encouraging sportsmanship and responsible choices.

As part of the program, the University is in the process of recruiting student athletes and members of the greek community to deliver alcohol abuse prevention presentations in the fall.

The NCAA developed the program aiming to integrate athletics into campus-wide efforts to reduce alcohol abuse. Amelious Whyte , chief of staff for the vice provost for student affairs, said the University received the three-year grant totaling $30,000 in April, along with 14 other institutions, for their program called “Golden Gophers make Golden Choices .”

The University’s CHOICES program has three objectives. As part of the sportsmanship initiative, a student group called We Are Minnesota was formed to teach and lead cheers in the student section of TCF Bank Stadium, Assistant Director of Student Unions and Activities Mandi Soderlund said.

For the second part of the CHOICES program, freshmen will be taught school songs and rousers at the pride and spirit event during Welcome Week in September, rather than during convocation as in past years, Soderlund said.

The third and final part of the grant will be used to get students involved in Boynton Health Service ’s program SNAP, or Student Network for Abuse Prevention .

The program trains students to become peer educators and deliver presentations on making safe and healthy choices with alcohol.

Boynton’s Associate Program Director Dana Farley said it has been around for four years, but with the CHOICES grant, this is the first time the University has actively sought to involve more student-athletes and students in fraternities and sororities.

Whyte said they created the three parts of the program with the goal of making campus on game days not only fun but also safe.

“It was grounded in the fact that the football stadium is opening, and we wanted to see what we could do to set the right tone with a variety of issues but mostly fan behavior,” he said.

Farley said four to six student-athletes and students from fraternities and sororities are being recruited for the SNAP program right now. They’ll begin training over the summer and then deliver presentations to their peers and students in residence halls in the fall. Five students have expressed interest in becoming involved so far, but he hasn’t interviewed them yet. They will be chosen in August.

He said students who live on campus are generally easier to reach, but involving greeks and student-athletes is important.

“Involving them in making healthy decisions is another way to reach out to people off campus or that may be in situations where there are lots of parties or high risk for drinking,” Farley said.

Peyton Owens , assistant director of the McNamara Academic Center for Student Athletes, is helping recruit student-athletes to the program. He said it’s important to get that group involved because the CHOICES program surrounds sporting events.

“We feel it’s very important to have student-athletes at the forefront to articulate what our vision and mission and purpose is,” he said. “We want to make sure [they’re] really passionate about this as well, and then, in turn, going out and delivering that message.”

Whyte said the CHOICES program will focus on football right now, but he wants to eventually bring the initiatives to other sports as well.

“We’re doing something that very few colleges and universities have gotten a chance to do lately, which is open up a new football stadium, so we’ve been very focused on wanting to make sure we do it right,” he said.