We’ve all heard never to drink and drive. This week, students learned what could happen if they decided not to listen to that rule.
The B.E.E.R. Drive was 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday on Olin Quad. Bradley’s organization for health, empowerment and teaching, HEAT, hosted the event as one of their most popular of the year with about 200 participants each day. Students received a free T-shirt after completing the course.
Students wore educational beer goggles to demonstrate blood alcohol content while driving a golf cart along a short course. There were traffic cones to represent consequences of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
“We relate it back to drinking alcohol in general and how if you’re drinking alcohol, you have no legal consent,” Sophia Fishkin, co-director of HEAT and senior art history major, said. “So, talking about how alcohol can influence your actions, your consequences, but also can be really important in saying yes or no to any activity.”
Free chicken nuggets from McDonald’s were offered at the event to emphasize the importance of eating something greasy before drinking.
“We suggest that going to Bacci’s before 9 p.m. is the way to go,” Fishkin said.
Fishkin said it is important to know how the body is influenced by alcohol. She explained that some people were feeling nauseous and dizzy after taking the goggles off because they cause a change to the nervous system that makes the body react adversely.
Alexiss Gilmore, sophomore music and entertainment industry major, said she thought it was strange driving with the beer goggles.
“I have never driven under the influence, so it was something really new,” Gilmore said. “I think that it emphasizes the importance of not driving drunk [and] the importance of having a designated driver because that was really scary.”
Troi Roberson, senior television arts major, said it was a fun time, but can see why it would be risky in a real-life situation.
“[It was] pleasantly disorienting,” Roberson said. “It was fun, but I don’t ever want to experience it in reality. I definitely thought I knew what I was doing … but then they were telling me I was hitting things, so what I was seeing was not matching up to reality.”
Every month, Bradley HEAT presents on a different wellness branch. March was focused on financial wellness. April is their most programmed month, focused on sexual assault awareness.
“We educate students on things they may or may not encounter on campus,” Fishkin said. “Really, we’re here to inform students. We’re not here to tell them what to do, we’re not here to police them, we’re just here to help them make informed decisions.”
Fishkin said HEAT focuses on all parts of wellness, not just sex, drugs and alcohol.
“HEAT in general has a very small reputation on this campus as educators, as presenters, but we are so much more than that,” Fishkin said. “Our office is a safe space. It’s a place for survivors of sexual assault, it is a place for people who have dealt with alcohol or dealt with any other substance to be able to come and really be unbiased. And it’s a completely confidential space.”
