NEWARK, DE -- The Student Athletic Advisory Council joined forces with the Greek community to promote positive awareness and encourage university students to attend varsity sporting events on campus.

SAAC, the liaison between athletes and the athletic administration, first combined efforts with the Inter-Fraternity council and the Panhellenic council to support Alcohol Awareness Week.

The organizations re-joined forces to hold a panel discussion for the concerned parents and students of the Newark High School. 

Junior Tyler Kupper, president of SAAC, said working together with non-athletic student organizations will soften stereotypes. 

“We are trying to find ways to get kids over the bridge,” he said. “There is a stereotype that athletes and Greeks can’t mix, but the numbers of Greeks are huge and events like this help to breakdown that stereotype.”

The speech given to athletes and Greeks in the Bob Carpenter Center Oct. 16 to begin Alcohol Awareness Week, the nationally campaigned effort promoted on college campuses.

Kupper said Sterner was chosen to affect the harmful decisions that college students sometimes make while bringing athletes and Greeks together.

Because athletes have a reputation of driving under the influence and Greeks have a reputation for binge drinking, Sterner’s speech aided the purpose of combining the two issues, Kupper said.

The somber speech was given by Mark Sterner, a convicted drunk driver who killed three of his best friends after crashing a rented Lincoln town car on Spring Break. Sterner spent three years in a Florida state prison but explained that legal punishment would not compare to the guilt he lives with everyday.

“If I could spend the rest of my life in jail so that my friends could have ten minutes to say goodbye to their family and girlfriends, I would do it in a second,” he said. 

Kupper said the crowd of over 1000 was obviously touched by the powerful speech. 

“For him to stand up there and relive that, every time he makes a speech, is really impressive.”

Nancy Nutt, Program Director of Wellspring, said Delaware has always been high in the binge drinking rates or problematic drinking rates.

“As far as college campuses go, the Northeast corridor seems to have higher rates compared to the rest of the country but Delaware seems to have had, in the past, a particularly high binge drinking rate amongst its student population.”

She said the speaker was meant to draw attention to the athletes and Greeks because they are a large target audience.

“We always need to be pretty vigilant about making sure that our students know about the risks of drinking to much and what can happen to them,” Nutt said. “We need to do some stuff to make sure that students who choose not to drink or who drink responsibly have other alternatives."

She said the events of the week were important for letting students know there are resources for dealing with alcohol in college.

Due to the success of the alcohol speaker, SAAC recombined efforts with eight athletic and Greek panel representatives and addressed the basics of college-life to inform concerned parents at Newark High School Nov. 3. Students explained ‘how to choose a college’, highlighted some resources available at the university and discussed the academics involved once a student is finally emerged in college life. The final topic of discussion regarding ‘sex, drugs and alcohol,’ hit much of the concerns troubling the Newark high school community.

Linda Brasel, coordinator of the Wellness Center at Newark High School, said more than 50 percent of Newark High School graduates attend the university and the PTA is working to build the bridge between the community and the university. 

“It was very interesting hearing that if you are active in college, your time is going to be much better,” Brasel said. “They were all examples of how true that is and I think that is something that our kids really need to hear.”

Brasel said that her son had trouble with finding the right group of friends at the university and did not wish to continue at such a large school.

“It’s really important that you connect with people,” she said. “The university is huge and if you don’t get a network of friends, then you are going to have a really hard time.”

Parents were concerned with drugs and the amount of drinking that exists on campus, questioning the effectiveness of the three-strike policy.

Senior Erin Sullivan, president of Greek Council, said sobriety is common in her sorority and stereotypes are often incorrect involving Greek life.

“I know a lot of people associate Greek life with drinking,” she said, “But I also know a lot of people that don’t drink at all and when I don’t want to drink, there are a lot of girls I can call.”

Sullivan said that an open relationship between parent and child will affect the success they have with the many aspects of college life.

“You have to make sure your kids are honest with you and are comfortable calling when they need help,” she said.

Senior Ashley Vallillo, president of Panhel, said that alcohol and drugs certainly exists on campus but it is up to the student to become involved at the university and avoid people who may head in the direction of self-destruction.

When asked by an audience member about the marijuana and heroin problem that exists in Newark, panel members said involvement was a solution to drug abuse.

“I can honestly say that I do not know one person that does heroin,” Vallillo said. “This is what you do to stay out of doing drugs -- we don’t have time to do drugs.”

The panel encouraged parents to teach their children the lessons of responsibility before college and the freedom to decide.

The students pushed the idea that college is indicative of the so-called real world and the experiences of their children at the university would be an indicator of the experience they could expect after graduation.

Senior Peter Kane, member of SAAC and the men’s track team, said that the college is mini version of the real world and student activities will be dependent on the region the college is located.

“If you go to southern California, you are going to find a bunch of surfers with the occasional New Yorker thrown in there,” he said.

“You have got to remember it’s about developing them to send us out into the real world, college is a step to that final chapter in our lives.”

Kupper addressed a question of rooming with a people that differ greatly from one another.

“You might not get along with your roommate, and you might not get along with your coach or your advisor either,” he said, “but you aren’t always going to get along with your boss either.”

Cindy Genau, Newark resident and parent, said she attended the discussion because she wanted to hear what the students honestly had to say about the different topics of conversation.

“Transitioning into college is a very stressful time and I think that most parents are very concerned about that,” she said.  “I know the university is trying hard to work with the community and we all want our children to be responsible citizens and members of the community.”