Southeast launches latest student responsibility campaign

To help prevent everything from texting-and-driving to alcohol poisoning and sexual assault, Southeast Missouri State University has rolled out a campaign called Responsible Redhawks.

To get the word out, the university is offering presentations by the Office of Student Conduct, Campus Violence Prevention, resident assistants and certified peer educators. Also part of the effort is a print and online guide that covers a variety of topics and gives students one place to look for answers to questions.

"When a student makes that transition, particularly a traditional-age student who is enrolling in college for the very first time, it is a leap into adulthood, and with that comes the ability to make lots of choices. Through promoting responsibility, we hope to help students make good choices throughout their journey with us," said Debbie Below, vice president of Enrollment Management and Student Success.

Along with the guidebook, the university's alcohol and substance abuse education committee generated a set of posters as part of a social issues campaign.

The posters are related to texting and driving, maintaining a positive social media presence and academic honesty, among other topics, Below said.

"If you're somebody who binge drinks, you might think everybody does that but what we're saying is actually 70 percent of our students choose not to do this," Below said. "Or ... 72.8 percent of students regularly or always use a designated driver. It's about helping students think that the majority of students are responsible, so maybe my choice to behave irresponsibly is really outside the norm ..."

New messages will be rolled out every couple of weeks so they stay fresh, Below said. She added the campaign is about more than posters and guides. Staff from the Office of Student Conduct and counseling through the Campus Violence Prevention Program are presenting information in classes and to student groups, even down to residence hall floors.

Some topics include sexual assault guidelines, what it means to behave responsibly when you're living in a community; the adverse effects of alcohol and drug use; and bystander intervention, known as Southeast Step Up.

In the bystander intervention program, if friends or acquaintances are at a party together and one sees the other is about to drive after having too much to drink, the bystander would take the keys away from his or her acquaintance.

"It's anything where they have the potential that they're going to make a bad choice," Below said. "It's called the Step Up campaign. You step up and ask them to make a different choice. It's OK to intervene when you believe somebody's safety is at risk."

The program was adopted with permission from the University of Arizona.

Prevention programs have been in place for decades and the Responsible Redhawk campaign is the latest one here.

Below said college is a time when students are trying to build their identities and that includes being aware of the choices they're making.

"We know that if we don't market this differently every year, it won't get our students' attention. ... You can think of this as a public-relations campaign for promoting student responsibility within their new community," Below said.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

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