Arts and Entertainment

'No shirt, no shoes, no service'

By Elijah Brumback GVL Staff Writer
2/7/2010

Drinks will be flowing, music will be blasting and bumping and grinding will be inevitable -- but the influence of alcohol will be absent.

For the first time, the group "Greeks Advocating for Mature Management of Alcohol" will co-host a free dance party for alcohol awareness leading up to spring break.

The terms "spring break" and "alcohol" are nearly synonymous for college students. In the run up to the booze-filled break, it is almost impossible to escape advertisements and major television stations glamorizing the decadence and sexually charged atmosphere of the week.

With Saturday's party, GAMMA and its affiliates hope to educate people on the irreparable harm caused by mixing booze and excess revelry, whether it be the health or emotional consequences of a random hook-up, or worse, rape.

The event's name, "No shirt, no shoes, no service" is a spring-break play on the convenience-store phrase, with the main goal of focusing on responsible management of alcohol during the widely recognized, and often reckless, party season.

The event is GAMMA president Martin Riviera's first big co-sponsored event after his appointment at the beginning of this year, and his early focus is on getting GAMMA involved more broadly.

"GAMMA has been pretty quiet in the last year," Riviera said. "Our goal was to work with other Greek life organizations to host a bigger, more fun event."

While also being campus-focused, the event is part of a much larger national promotion called "United Greek Breaks" that advocates for a safe spring break on college campuses throughout the U.S.

The cash to support the event came in contributions from both the Greek Life Council and the Multi-cultural Greek Council, who co-sponsored the event along with a bevy of fraternities and sororities.

In addition to coordinating a large party-like event, the many groups involved will have a hand in creating interactive presentations about the heightened dangers of alcohol associated with spring break debauchery.

"Spring break is notorious for binge drinking," said Kayla Weems, vice president of GAMMA. "Were not anti-alcohol; it's accepted that students are going to drink and Greeks often have a bad reputation. What we want to do is educate people about possible consequences of their drinking."

She said it is important to show Greek organizations care about trying to correct their media image, and they are also active in providing information on the issues.

In a lighthearted gesture, the hosts will serve "mocktails," which are virgin adaptations of popular alcoholic beverages such as "Sex on the Beach."

The point of presenting the information in a fun party-like event is the information becomes effective and more interactive, said Kayla Bottrell, vice president of public relations for GAMMA.

"More people learn by participating rather than reading a flyer or having a booth in Kirkhof," Bottrell said.

On a humorous note, Bottrell said to avoid drinking too many "mocktails," and attendees should balance them out with the free food.

There will be a presentation on alcohol abuse awareness at 9 p.m. followed by the dance at 9:20 p.m. in the Grand River Room in the Kirkhof Center.

ebrumback@lanthorn.com

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