The Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) awarded Georgia Tech’s Department of Health Initiatives a $12,428 grant for participation in the Georgia Young Adult Program. The program is designed to promote and bring awareness to highway safety issues including alcohol education, alcohol abuse prevention, impaired driving, underage drinking, safety belt usage, speeding, and distracted driving. Health Initiatives has partnered with GOHS since 2009.

The grant this year will provide funding for student travel to the BACCHUS Peer Educator Conference for two Georgia Tech students and one staff member. In addition, the grant will fund the Arrive Alive DUI Simulator, the parent handbook for Talking with College Students About Alcohol, and the creation of informational cards related to alcohol safety for students.

The GOHS grant has supported several health and safety initiatives on Georgia Tech’s campus throughout the years such as:

• #GamePlanGT: A campaign to encourage students to protect themselves and others if they choose to drink alcohol
• Safe Spring Break:  Collaboration with campus and community partners to raise awareness of the importance of practicing safe spring break behaviors
• Awareness Events: Health Initiatives outreach efforts which provide educational activities for students at various campus events utilizing the DUI simulator, Sum-It-Cup Standard Drink activity, and the Distract-A-Match distracted driving game
• AlcoholEdu: Health Initiatives provides alcohol education to all incoming undergraduate and transfer students. Whether you drink or not, AlcoholEdu will empower you to make well-informed decisions about alcohol and help you better cope with the drinking behavior of your peers.

The grant runs through September 30, 2019. For more information about the Young Adult’s Grant, click here.