College Students in Recovery

By Mark Atwood

More than 23 million Americans are in long-term recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. An increasing number of them are young people – the population most vulnerable to the temptations of addictive substances. As more and more efforts focus on providing support to youth who are struggling to stay sober, one of the most critical areas is the college campus.

Imagine the situation of an 18-year-old with a drug or alcohol problem: He has been through rehab, has managed to keep himself clean for several months and counting, has a support system of family and friends, attends Alcoholic Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings – and then he goes off to college. On a campus where supervision is minimal and temptation is everywhere, what are the odds he can maintain his sobriety?

This is where the Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC) comes into play. Though the concept of CRCs has been around for some time, it is only in the last few years that CRCs have really taken off around the country.

The idea of a College Recovery Community is simple: to create a community of emotional and practical support for students who are serious about long-term addiction recovery. The idea isn’t to replace AA or NA meetings, counseling or rehab, but rather to provide an on-campus culture where sobriety is cool, a “safe” gathering place, fun and sober activities, and an environment where students can make the most of their college experiences without risking a relapse.

The Chris Atwood Foundation – founded in memory of my son Chris Atwood, who died last year at the age of 21 from a heroin overdose – has been in the forefront of promoting this movement within Virginia and the District of Columbia.

In March, we co-sponsored with the Richmond, Va.-based JHW Foundation the first conference of CRCs on Virginia college campuses, and eight universities participated in the event hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University and its Rams in Recovery program. We are planning a region-wide conference next year.

At George Mason University we’ve been privileged to work with the Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education Services (WAVES) to expand their services to students in recovery. Last semester we sponsored a screening at GMU of the documentary “The Anonymous People,” and helped WAVES secure a significant grant from the Nevada-based Transforming Youth Recovery group. With it, WAVES has been able to provide a stipend for a young graduate student, herself in recovery, to organize a group known as “ARMS” (Addiction Recovery for Mason Students) that will start meeting this semester.

We also are working with students and faculty at the Alexandria campus of Northern Virginia Community College to organize a similar group there. We participated Sept. 10 in a screening of “The Anonymous People,” which has started the ball rolling toward CRCs on that and other NOVA campuses. We are coordinating the movements at Mason and NOVA with a newly formed group at George Washington University, and hope to see a similar group started at Georgetown University in the coming year.

Mark Atwood is a co-founder of The Chris Atwood Foundation (CAF), a partner of the Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County. A team from the CAF nonprofit also took part in the 200-mile Ragnar Relay Series Sept. 12-13 in support of recovery. In the photo above, the Atwood family is shown with their late son Chris.

The Unified Prevention Coalition of Fairfax County is a nonprofit organization with more than 60 community partners working together to keep youth and young adults safe and drug-free. Visit www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org and www.facebook.com/unifiedpreventioncoalition. Follow the group on Twitter at www.twitter.com/keepyouthsafe.

In honor of the 25th anniversary of National Recovery Month, the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) will host a celebratory event at the White House called “Recovery Month at the White House: Celebrating 25 Years.” The event will be streamed live on September 17.