Campus Community Coalition has created a new campaign called Know B4 U Go, which is intended to make students aware of the legal policies and punishments regarding underage drinking and driving under the influence in Wilmington.

The coalition is made up of students and representatives from campus, New Hanover public schools, highway patrol, and police departments in Wilmington, Wrightsville and Carolina Beach.

According to Cynthia Mitchell, chair of the coalition and outreach coordinator for Crossroads on campus, the initial focus of the campaign was to make incoming freshmen aware of the laws in the area about underage drinking and using fake IDs. Later the coalition expanded it to cover “responsible drinking,” which also includes refraining from drinking and driving.

“We started out saying, ‘Okay, let’s do something for the freshmen,’ but it expanded beyond that,” Mitchell said.

The coalition has prepared door hangers with coupons on the bottom for distribution on the doors of both dorm rooms and off-campus apartments for large numbers of students.

“Once you move here and become a member of UNCW, you’re also a member of this community,” said Mitchell. “Once you exhibit certain behaviors, you’re responsible just like anyone else is.”

The coalition also prepared two radio commercials to run on radio station Z107.5 and public service announcements to run on the rest of Next Media’s area radio stations. One commercial features an underage student attempting to enter a club with a fake ID. The other features an of-age student drinking at the bar and then leaving to drive home. After the short dialogues, both commercials tell the local laws about drinking and the consequences when the laws are broken.

According to the UNCW University Police’s 2005 Campus Crime and Security Report, there were 18 arrests on campus for liquor law violations in 2005. There were also 261 disciplinary actions and judicial referrals for liquor law violations.

“This is going to be an ongoing campaign,” Mitchell said. “The coalition will be meeting again soon and looking at the successes that we’ve had with the radio campaign, with what’s going to happen with the door hangers when they start being distributed, and then looking at what we’re going to be doing throughout the rest of the year.”

Students who want to get involved with the coalition or with Crossroads, UNCW’s substance abuse prevention and education program, can contact Cynthia Mitchell at (910) 962-7432 or [email protected].