Students and faculty spanning across age groups, jobs and experiences joined together to enjoy mocktail drinks Sept. 9 around the patio of Lakeside Dining.
SPARKS, or Students Promoting Awareness, Responsibility, Knowledge and Success, joined Peer Educators, Phoenix Free and Elon Dining to host the event. Phoenix Free supports students who want to be substance-free or have had negative substance experiences in the past.
SPARKS is made up of student leaders who work to support student health, including topics relating to mental and sexual health. Two representatives spoke to the event’s participants about what the club has to offer.
C.J. Bugna, assistant director for collegiate recovery at Elon, said both groups have different audiences when educating about substance use but have the same goal: educating about safe practices.
“They’re interested in educating students on how to consume responsibly, harm reduction, low-risk drinking strategies. So this just kind of was the best way to bring those three organizations together in a way to promote holistic wellness,” Bugna said.
Senior Sarah Vignes is a nursing major and a SPARKS peer educator. Vignes said she’s seen this impact SPARKS has on campus firsthand.
“I wanted to be more involved in holistic health, and SPARKS was a really great opportunity for that. And the minute I started working here, I realized what a great impact it has on the Elon community,” Vignes said.
Senior Caroline Niedermeyer, psychology major who found SPARKS her sophomore year, said SPARKS helps build peer-to-peer connections.
“I've felt that students have had a really way easier time connecting with other students instead of maybe faculty because students like to listen to other students,” Niedermeyer said.
Niedermeyer and Vignes said that SPARKS has had an influence on their lives, and they have seen it have an impact on their peers' lives, as well.
When speaking on the campus and explaining why their work is important in the community, Niedermeyer said that she knows there can be issues on campus with drinking.
“I think there's a lot of peer pressure that goes into it. So our whole mission is just to break that stigma,” Niedermeyer said.“We know people are going to do other things, and we just want everyone to be safe and have resources to get help if they run into a problem while they're doing that.”
Vignes said SPARKS is working toward ways to make drinking safer on campus by providing alternatives and breaking expectations that may weigh students down. Partnering with Phoenix Free was a great way to do that.
Niedermeyer and Vignes both believed the event was a success.
“People have been loving the drinks. They've been taking the information we've been giving out, and it's been very cool,” Vignes said.