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Panthers for Prevention

Drury University > Life at Drury > Get Involved > Panthers for Prevention

About the Organization
Panthers for Prevention is a peer education organization. We host fun and engaging events throughout the school year to provide students with information about health related issues that are important to them. We focus on several key concerns, including safe relationships, safe alcohol use, and mental health, but our specific emphases can change as our campus’s needs change. Because of the importance of our mission to Drury’s campus, we have a lot of leadership opportunities for our members. Additionally, we collaborate with several other organizations on campus, including Student Union Board, Greek Life, Allies, V Warriors, Title IX, and Drury Security, and we’re closely connected with Step Up.

Mission Statement
Panthers for Prevention is a social norming and health organization. The goal of this group is to encourage the student body to make well-informed and educated decisions that ideally work to promote their overall health & wellness.

Meetings
Meetings will be held weekly in the Residence Life Office (FSC 108).

How to Join
Membership is open to all students. To join, email one of the advisors listed below and they will get you connected with the President of P4P!

Group President
Morgan Ivison
mivison@drury.edu

Campus Advisors
Alexis Guth Sparks
Director of Residence Life
FSC 110
Office: (417) 873-6975
aguth@drury.edu

Atonia Bayless
Area Coordinator
FSC 108
Office: (417)837-7429
abayless004@drury.edu

At a Glance

  • Awareness organization
  • Open membership
  • First-year involvement welcome
  • Bi-Weekly Meetings
  • No involvement fees
  • For questions, email either of the campus advisors listed above!

Alcohol Education

Panthers for Prevention seeks to be a means of support for Drury students about safe alcohol use. We host events throughout the year and provide helpful information in fun and effective ways. 

Alcohol Education Events

Keg on Campus

A fun and educational event held every fall to promote safe alcohol use among Drury students. This event involves a speaker on a relevant topic, root beer floats, food, and games such as Beer Goggles Mario Kart.

Late Night Breakfast

On the Tuesday of finals week each semester, the Commons opens late at night to serve free breakfast to hundreds of students. Students get in line up to an hour beforehand, and Panthers for Prevention is there with music, breakfast drinks, alcohol education information, and prizes.

Golf Cart Event

This event typically takes place around Halloween. Panthers for Prevention members drive around campus in a golf cart, handing out non-alcoholic drinks in koozies to promote Drury’s Yellow Cab Connection.

Mental Health Education

Panthers for Prevention periodically participates in events promoting mental health, usually focusing on issues relating to stress relief as well as anxiety, depression, and suicide awareness. These events tend to be more variable and flexible than some of our other events and we often team up with other groups on campus to carry them out.


Mental Health Education Events

Puppy Therapy

Every spring during finals week, Panthers for Prevention invites Drury students and staff to bring their fluffy friends for an afternoon of stress relief.

Ask. Listen. Refer. Campaign

Each year, Panthers for Prevention and other partnering organizations encourage students to complete online suicide prevention training through Ask. Listen. Refer. Students turn in their certificates from the program to be entered into a drawing for gift cards. Students also receive giveaways, brochures relating to mental health, and Panther Care Cards at lunch. Panther Care Cards are wallet-sized cards containing risk factors and warning signs of suicide and depression, and where to get help on campus and in our community. Please visit our page on the Mental Health Awareness Campaign for more information and for a link to take the Ask. Listen. Refer. training.

Mental Health Awareness Campaign

The free online training Ask. Listen. Refer. is available to all students, staff, and faculty and only takes twenty minutes. The training walks users through risk factors, warning signs, motives, and events of suicide and how to handle concerns regarding suicide.

Did you know?

College students face a whole new set of challenges and stresses. Some of these include:

  • Leaving home for college is a major life transition.
  • Family and friends, a student’s primary support system, are often far away.
  • High academic standards of parents, professors, and peers can add additional stress.
  • Economic pressure to finish degree and enter the job market creates stress.

Know the warning signs of suicide:

  • Talking about wanting to die or to kill themselves.
  • Looking for a way to kill themselves, such as searching online or buying a gun
  • Talking about feeling hopeless or having no reason to live.
  • Talking about feeling trapped or in unbearable pain.
  • Talking about being a burden to others.
  • Increasing the use of alcohol or drugs.
  • Acting anxious or agitated; behaving recklessly.
  • Sleeping too little or too much.
  • Withdrawing or isolating themselves.
  • Showing rage or talking about seeking revenge.
  • Displaying extreme mood swings.

How to get help:

    • Take the Ask. Listen. Refer. training.
    • Speak to our campus counselors in FSC 114
      • Ed Derr (417) 873-7457
      • Jena Steele (417) 873-873-7418
    • Call campus security at (417) 873-7911 for emergencies

Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Safe Relationships Education

Panthers for Prevention seeks to be a means of support for Drury students about safe relationships. We host events throughout the year and provide helpful information in fun and effective ways. Please see below for a list of some of our events and check out our Resources page for more information about great outside resources.


Safe Relationships Education Events

 

Healthy Relationship Contest

Each February, Panthers for Prevention, in conjunction with Counseling, hosts a healthy relationship contest. Groups of two romantic partners, friends, or coworkers fill out a questionnaire about habits in their relationship. The answers are judged by the campus counselors to identify the relationships with the healthiest behaviors. The top relationship in each category wins a gift card to share.

Sexual Assault Awareness Month

Each April, Panthers for Prevention coordinates Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The month is full of events put on by different campus organizations all coming together for one cause.

Events include:

  • It’s On Us banner signing
  • Green Dot Bystander Intervention Training
  • Self-defense classes
  • Documentary night
  • Denim Day
  • And more

Sex on Campus

Each spring, the Panthers for Prevention hosts “Sex on Campus” where students anonymously ask any question they want pertaining to sex, human anatomy, and sexual misconduct, among others. The event is very humorous, yet still educates the students on many topics pertaining to sex and sexual misconduct. Other giveaways, food, and educational materials are distributed to the students. 

Resources

Alcohol

Mental Health

Drugs & Tobacco

Sexual Violence

  • The Victim Center: offers services to survivors of violent or sexual crimes.
  • It’s On Us: a White House initiative putting the responsibility on everyone to stop sexual violence. 

Drury University Resources

Local, State, and National Resources

Hotlines

Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1-800-273-(TALK) 8255

Veterans Lifeline
1-800-273-8255

Trevor Project Hotline: LGBQT
1-866-488-7386

Eating Disorders Lifeline
1-800-931-2237

Drury Counseling

Annual Reports

Missouri College Health Behavior Survey

The Missouri College Health Behavior Survey (MCHBS) is an online, anonymous survey that Drury and 20 other Missouri colleges and universities take in the Spring Semester. This survey gauges health behaviors and knowledge of students. Questions assess alcohol and drug prevalence, negative consequences associate with drinking and protective behaviors among colleges students. In addition, the survey measure other health behaviors such tobacco use, gambling, and risky driving behavior along with a measure of mental health concerns.

Strategic Plan

The strategic plan is a working document of the cumulative efforts of Drury University’s Coalition (Panthers for Prevention). It attempts to outline the strategic plan to address key problems related to alcohol risk reduction along with the strategic initiatives intended to meet long-term institutional and community goals. Four problem areas are:

  1. Underage Drinking
  2. High Risk Behavior
  3. Party Location and the Availability of Alcohol
  4. Ensuring Adequate Program Resources and Evaluation