As students prepared themselves for spring break this past week, the University of Rhode Island Health Services Department held a Safe Spring Break Party to raise awareness and promote travel, substance and skin safety during break.
The event had multiple internal vendors from Health Services at separate stations across the second floor of the union. Booths were set up for alcohol awareness, drug overdose prevention, skin check-ups and a booth to book STI testing appointments.
There was also an appearance from the American Automobile Association’s Narragansett branch handing out luggage tags and additional travel safety resources.
Mocktails and popcorn were served to students in attendance and every booth gave away free candy, narcan and condoms to promote safety and well being.
Another addition to the event was a drunk-goggle fishing pool. Students were prompted to step up to the pool filled with magnetized fish and a fishing rod. They were then encouraged to try and catch a fish with the drunk-goggles on.
These types of events have a positive impact on students since it gives them the opportunity to ask questions about their own health and safety and is another way Health Services can be available to students, according to William Massey, associate director of Health Services at URI.
Health Services has been planning this annual event for the past three months, according to Jessica Greene, assistant director of health promotion and Wellness at URI. The hardest part of planning this event is scheduling the date to rent space in the Memorial Union, Greene said.
The goal is to host the event the Wednesday before spring break, according to Greene. This is so students traveling for break will be sent off with health knowledge and travel safety information.
This year, around 300 students attended the spring break party in the union, according to Greene. This was better than last year’s attendance.
“The turnout this year was actually excellent,” Lisa Berghborn, a branch manager at AAA Narragansett who has been coming to these events for three years, said. “I think we had more students here this year than ever before.”
The Office of Student Involvement has more events to come in the future now that the spring break party is in the books, according to Lucas DeWitt, a coordinator for the Office of Student Involvement.
“I think these events are a great mental health check in and a way to destress and unwind and not think about anything except getting some free stuff,” DeWitt said.
DeWitt mentioned the events happening in the near future with an Unwind Your Mind week planned toward the end of the semester starting with a skate night at the Boss Ice Arena on April 25.
There will be also be a suicide prevention walk held on April 13 on the Kingston Campus Quad, according to DeWitt.
The event will be a campus fundraiser 5k walk to raise awareness for suicide prevention and mental health awareness, according to Payton Cahill, a fourth-year student at URI working with health services for the fundraiser.
