Thibodauxville Fall Festival

As a college campus, we are aware that underage drinking can have significant negative effects on students’ social, emotional, and academic progress. For that reason, we thoroughly analyze our university’s “CORE Alcohol & Drug Survey for Higher Education” results on substance misuse (specifically drinking). We found that 17 percent of Nicholls students have never consumed alcohol; 53 percent consumed zero alcoholic drinks a week; 47 percent refused a drink in the past 30 days; 50 percent said they do not believe alcohol is a coping mechanism for stress; and 81 percent do not believe the social environment on campus promotes alcohol use. Due to our diligence on campus, our survey results were lower than expected, which has encouraged us to continue our hard work.

• Lack of awareness of our event or organization
• A community partner suddenly backing out at the last minute resulting in less traffic to our event.

• Communities Talk planning guides
• Communities Talk toolkits

• Educated youth and parents
• Built community cohesiveness and support for our efforts
• Raised awareness of substance abuse and/or underage drinking issues in our community

The Thibodeauxville Fall Festival is an annual event put on by the local Chamber of Commerce. This year, we made great strides in connecting with students, their parents, and other community supporters. This event allowed us to provide educational materials, like an informational magnet that highlighted our CORE survey results. It also allowed us to have conversations with attendees to dispel the belief that all college students partake in underage drinking.