HIGHER EDUCATION PREVENTION COALITIONS

It was an exciting year for our Higher Education Prevention Coalitions. We saw great growth and excitement with our existing coalitions at Southern Utah University and Utah Tech, with huge strides being made in our campus efforts. The Healthy T-Birds Coalition was nominated for the SUU Health & Wellness Club of the Year award, and the Healthy Trailblazers Coalition was nominated for the Utah Tech Club of the Year award for the second year in a row. These nominations are a testament to the efforts of our student leaders to work hard, cultivate meaningful relationships across campus, and facilitate positive outcomes for the campus communities.

With the Healthy T-Birds and Health Trailblazers Coalitions running smoothly this year, we were also able to add another coalition to the mix. As with the existing coalitions, the Healthy Badgers Coalition will utilize the campus club model to serve both the Ephraim and Richfield campuses of Snow College. We are excited to see what can be accomplished at Snow College, as there is already great support and enthusiasm in place behind the coalition. By working closely with community and campus partners, we envision great success in our efforts to bring a greater emphasis on health, wellness, and substance abuse prevention to our local campuses.

In February, representatives from each of the coalitions were able to attend the annual Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) conference in Washington D.C., which provided us with a wonderful opportunity for further training and understanding of current issues, trends, and solutions. We were glad that our student leaders were able to attend this conference and interact with peers and experts in the field and gain first-hand appreciation for the efforts being made around the country in prevention.

There is so much positive momentum happening behind our coalitions, and we couldn’t be more thankful to our campus community board members on each of our campuses that make what we do possible.