Assessing the impact of RIT’s Bader Grant

Since 2000, RIT has been the recipient of a grant provided by the Helen Bader Foundation, focused on alcohol education for a number of high-risk student groups on campus: first-year students, Greeks, athletes and deaf/hard-of- hearing students. This grant will close at the end of the academic year, but the impact this grant has had on our student community will not be forgotten.

The Helen Bader Foundation began as a philanthropic organization by the Bader Family of Milwaukee, Wis. as a tribute to Helen Bader, who passed away in 1989. Her humanitarian work, with a focus on family, community and social causes was an inspiration to those around her. The foundation focused most of its work in the area of social-justice issues, both in Milwaukee and in Israel.

Daniel J. Bader, president and director of the Helen Bader Foundation, became a member of the RIT Board of Trustees and, in 2000, approached our campus and offered to fund an alcohol education program, after reading about a number of college students who had died from alcohol poisoning throughout the country. Members of the Division of Student Affairs were asked to write a grant proposal, and in a few short months, we were awarded our first round of funding from the Helen Bader Foundation. During the past eight years, the foundation awarded our campus two follow-up grants, totaling close to $500,000 in support of alcohol education.

During the life of the grant, we accomplished more than we had hoped for.

The Task Force, comprised of professionals from Student Affairs (Student Conduct, Student Health, Fraternity and Sorority Life, Residence Life, Academic Support Center, Athletics and Campus Life) and NTID (Student Life Team and SAISD) provided programming, with both national and regional speakers for over 15,000 students, including Dr. Drew Pinsky. We created RIT’s first substance-free outdoor dance party during Orientation, drawing more than 2,000 students during the first week of each Orientation session, creating a new RIT tradition. We have co-sponsored more than 300 events on campus, connecting with the colleges, Athletics, Campus Life, Residence Life, NTID, and student organizations to provide alcohol-free events for students to attend. From ice-skating parties with chocolate desserts, to Brick City events, to Applefest for NTID, the Bader Grant has supported it all.

Two of our proudest accomplishments involve connecting with students. The Bader Grant Task Force developed our own “homegrown” alcohol education program, known as “SpiRITs,” after sampling countless nationally packaged programs that just did not fit the needs of our student population. SpiRITs has now been incorporated into Orientation, reaching each and every first-year student as they arrive at RIT. We also created a student peer support group, known as Tiger PAWS. This student group attends all alcohol-related programs on campus, supporting student responsibility and positive peer decision-making.

The long-term impact of the Bader Grant has been an eight percent decrease overall in the number of alcohol-related incidents on campus (with some of our special populations, like deaf/hard-of-hearing students, having more than a 10 percent drop in alcohol-related violations). Greek organizations have become reliant on the speaker series we host each academic year for their risk-management training. Supporting late-night events for the NTID community has become a regular project for the Bader team.

The grant will end with a regional symposium, entitled “Campus Alcohol Education and Wellness Initiatives Conference,” set for April 3-4 at RIT. We are anticipating over 100 professionals from across New York to attend, including representatives from the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. The grant has given us the ability to provide this conference free to all participants. We believe it’s a wonderful way to share our successes with others across the state, and a celebratory way to end our grant.

For more information on the conference, visit www.rit.edu/studentaffairs/studentconduct.

What will happen when the grant is completed? We have been working closely with RIT to find funding to keep many of our initiatives moving forward, and feel confident the legacy of the Bader Grant will continue on our campus. We are very thankful to Dan Bader and the entire staff of the Helen Bader Foundation for providing us this “once in a lifetime” opportunity to impact our students.

And, I am personally thankful to the staff members on the Bader Grant Task Force, who have given countless hours during the past eight years because they truly care about our students.

Though the legacy of the Bader Grant will end in June, the impact of our accomplishments are now part of the landscape of RIT.

Soufleris is assistant vice president for student affairs.

This column presents opinions and ideas on issues relevant to higher education. To suggest an idea for the column, e-mail newsevents@rit.edu.