Organizations collaborate for alcohol awareness walk
Published Oct. 5, 2007
The Alcohol Responsibility Walk, usually a 24-hour event, will be a little more sleep-friendly this year.
Officials changed the length of the walk because it was difficult to coordinate the event for the entire time, Wellness Resource Center Director Kim Dude said.
"It was so hard on our volunteers and so hard for our students to find people to walk at like, 4 a.m.," she said. "It was just physically hard to pull off, and we thought it'd be just as effective in 12 hours as 24."
Because of the change, the motto for the event will be "Twice the fun in half the time," Dude said.
Participants will walk around Stankowski Field while bands and a disc jockey play music, Dude said. She said there would inflatables for students to play on.
Mizzou After Dark is also sponsoring a midnight breakfast from 10 p.m. to midnight for participants. Greeks Advocating the Mature Management of Alcohol will sponsor student bands.
In the past, these groups have had separate events, but this year they decided to work together.
Mizzou After Dark Graduate Assistant Sara Garner said Mizzou After Dark works closely with the Wellness Resource Center.
"We're both groups that have similar goals as far as providing safe activities for students on campus," she said. "We decided to collaborate this year and, instead of having two smaller events, have one bigger, better event."
Dude said she expects the walk to be a popular event, with between 600 to 800 student participating over the 12 hours.
"It's really fun because you're outside with a whole bunch of other students," she said. "There's music, food and you get a really cute T-shirt at the end, and you sign up as a team so it's a nice team-building activity within your living unit."
Garner said the event provides a way to give students a place to go if they want to be alcohol-free on a Friday night.
"Anytime that you can provide a safe activity on campus after hours, it gives students an opportunity to form a safe community and safe environment when there's otherwise not a whole lot of stuff going on after hours on campus," she said. "This gives students an outlet for a Friday night of free fun as well as some pretty important messages as far as safe alcohol consumption."
The walk starts at noon, but Dude said students can still continue to sign up throughout the day.