STEPHENVILLE, TEXASB—Tarleton State University’s Division of Student Life was recently awarded a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) Enforcing the Underage Drinking Laws grant for the 2008-2009 academic year. The grant, including matching funds, totaled $32,850.
Tarleton is one of three Texas universities to receive TABC funds. The others were the University of Houston and Texas A&M University-Kingsville.
Much of the funds will be used to support an education and prevention program called AlcoholEdu. The program is a research-based online alcohol education course designed to change students’ attitudes and behaviors toward alcohol use and abuse. The course will be required for all first-year freshmen, which are considered the most vulnerable group for underage drinking.
“The research-based, data-driven design enhances programming efforts and objectives, promotes student involvement and leadership around alcohol issues and fosters collaboration and sharing of best practices among professionals who utilize AlcoholEdu as part of their overall prevention efforts,” said Dr. Thad Anglin, assistant vice president for student life studies.
Additional funds will be used for other alcohol education and prevention programs targeted specifically toward high-risk groups and events where underage drinking often occurs.
“Data indicates that students completing the course are better equipped to handle the pressures associated with some activities they may be exposed to early in their college experience,” Anglin said.
