“A sober tailgate party,” says Hall.

He knows what you might be thinking: Sober tailgate party. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

“That’s the point,” says Hall, “because you know who the skeptics [about not drinking on game day] are? It’s the adults, not the students.”

He talked about a surprising new study that even he calls a phenomenon: The number of high schools seniors who report having drunk an alcoholic drink has decreased significantly, with more than 77.7 percent in 1991 compared to 53.3 percent in 2018.

“The idea that ‘Everyone in college drinks’ is not supported by data.” – Tom Hall ’16�ʳ��,

“The idea that ‘Everyone in college drinks’ is not supported by data,” says Hall, who earned his doctorate in sociology. “It’s a misperception that’s been perpetuated only because we thought it was true 20 years ago. We have to adjust our thinking and figure out what to do with this new narrative and create new norms in line with students beliefs and behaviors.”

For the past 22 years, Hall has been one of the lead authors of that revised narrative. He’s provided substance-abuse and mental-health treatment for people of all ages, and since 2004 has developed services for people with substance-use disorders at UCF, most recently as the associate director for and director of alcohol and other drug prevention services. In the process, he’s also identified the needs of college students who don’t want to imbibe.

“Only a minority of the students I see [in therapy] truly have a substance-use disorder,” Hall says. “The majority of the students I see are trying to manage social expectations. They associate positive feelings and ‘cutting loose’ with alcohol. The fun might be real, but it is not related to the alcohol. It’s the socializing — the thinking not the drinking. We have to encourage students to challenge the expectation that alcohol equates to fun, and to challenge the falsehoods so many adults have spread. Otherwise, we’ll have to deal with the bigger problems of dependence and abuse.”

After earning a master’s in social work from Florida State ����ֱ��, he went on to help start an adolescent in-patient unit at Lakeland Regional Medical Center, counseled children experiencing bereavement, and later worked in private practice treating patients with substance use disorders.

He’s spent a lifetime asking a constant question: How can we make this better?

Hall came to UCF in 2004 to head up alcohol-abuse prevention programs after a four-year stint at a private college in Florida. There, despite stringent rules about drinking, Hall saw the truths of a “dry campus” whenever he walked by the trash cans.

“It was a ‘humid’ campus, not dry,” he says. “Simply telling students ‘You can’t drink, you can’t drink’ obviously wasn’t working.”

So he created coalitions with students, administrators and local businesses to offer alternatives. Soon there were campus-wide barbecues and block parties, and bar owners were providing free soda, so students could socialize but not feel compelled to drink.

By tracing the dangerous problem of alcohol abuse back to its root (a so-called “social norm”), Hall began to do the unthinkable: change the culture. And then UCF came calling.

“I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz: This isn’t Kansas anymore. I went from a campus of 2,000 students to one with more than 40,000, which seemed overwhelming at times. But thanks to the university’s support, we were able to scale up what worked for a small, private college to a large, public university.”

The enormity reached a critical point at a tailgate party in September 2005. There, outside the Citrus Bowl (now Camping World Stadium), Hall stood 50 yards from the spot where off-duty UCF police officer Mario Jenkins was shot. In the hours after the tragedy, Hall questioned if his work were worthwhile. He spent the rest of the weekend using yard tools to exhaust his negative thoughts on a tree stump behind his house.

At the end of the weekend, he was left with a pile of mulch and a singular thought: Focus on one student, one small win, at a time.

Hall consumed himself with research on alcohol abuse and implemented a variety of common-sense programs to address it on campus. The U.S. Department of Education recognized his work as a Model of Exemplary Practice — a rare designation that puts UCF in limited company. Hall helped develop a curriculum to open conversations in high schools about alcohol on college campuses before students get there. He has chipped away at misperceptions with the kind of energy he used on that tree stump.

One student. One win at a time.

A student named Page, who transferred to UCF in January 2016 and asked to remain anonymous, became a win.

“When I looked for a new school, one of my top criteria was finding support in my recovery from a substance-abuse disorder,” says Page. “I saw right away that Tom had put UCF at the forefront instead of shying away from it.”

Page went from hanging out at the support meetings to working alongside Hall to grow the , which uses UCF’s network of resources to integrate prevention, treatment and recovery from substance use.

“Tom truly makes the students, not academia, his first priority,” says Page. “That’s why it works.”

Developing the CRC became part of Page’s recovery. Giving back to the community. Focusing on others. Moving everything forward. In that process, Page helped organize Sober Knights and thePoint After Dark — events for students, by students. They go bowling, play paintball, watch movies. And they meet each other at sober tailgate parties.

As Hall transitions to his new role as the director of the Orange County Drug Free Coalition, he points all attention to the data that at once baffles him and lifts him up: 40 percent of incoming freshman do not drink and do not want to drink.

“The data are encouraging,” he says.

And so he’s started a new narrative. One where students recovering from substance abuse hang out with students who have never touched alcohol. One that reflects the reality of today rather than the perceived norms of 20 years ago. In this story, Page graduates from UCF, lands a great job out of state, and takes with him a willingness to engage co-workers in conversations about substance abuse.

Meanwhile, here at Hall’s alma mater, a sober tailgate party is no longer an oxymoron with a crooked question mark. It’s part of a new beginning.

“I thought that if I moved to Florida, all my problems would be better,” Paul says. “But I brought my problem with me. I was down here for a year before I was willing to admit that I had a problem.”

Now sober for eight years, Paul has completed a master’s degree at UCF and is working on his second, in social work. His experience with substance abuse and recovery has led him to help others who may be struggling in a university environment where drinking and use of other substances sometimes seems the norm.

College is one of the most common times for people to experiment with alcohol, according to the, which reports that 80 percent of college students drink alcohol and 50 percent of those engage in binge drinking. Based on that use, approximately 15 percent of people 18 to 25 in the United States meet the criteria for substance abuse disorders, compared with 6.6 percent of adults over 26.

UCF has been a national leader in its efforts to help students get and stay sober. The university started holding Narcotics Anonymous meetings on campus in 2011 and then became the first public university in Florida to offer comprehensive recovery support. Across America, universities have followed suit. In 2012, the United States had 29 on-campus collegiate recovery communities. That number has now increased to more than 200.

UCF’s Student Health Services offers counseling and treatment for substance abuse as well as contributing mental-health disorders such as depression and anxiety.

UCF’s Student Health Services offers counseling and treatment for substance abuse as well as contributing mental-health disorders such as depression and anxiety. The Sober Knights student organization offers substance-free social events – including trivia, open mic and craft nights – and weekly meetings that provide fellowship and help direct students to recovery services. UCF holds on-campus Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings and has dedicated space for students in recovery to meet, study and find support. The Veterans Academic Resource Center offers support services for students returning from combat, including recovery-centered academic and career advising.

“If people are not sure if they have a problem or are wanting help, they can come over to Student Health Services right on campus across from Ferrell Commons,” Paul says. “There are licensed mental-health counselors and licensed clinical-social workers who are specialized in abuse, so they can come here for resources.”

Alexander Lewis, a junior psychology major, is the president of Sober Knights and he says the group helps students navigate the normalized college culture of partying, drinking and drug use.

“If people feel like they are partying too much just because everyone else is doing it, we’re here to give them an alternative,” Lewis says. “They don’t have to feel like the only way to have a social life is through drinking.”

Lewis’ passion for helping students live a sober life on campus stems from his own struggles with drug addiction. After spending months in a rehabilitation center, he is now five and a half years sober and pursuing a psychology degree at UCF.

“I’m planning on going into industrial organizational psychology – the psychology of how people work,” Lewis says. “The goal is to combine the passion I have for recovery and treatment centers with the degree and hopefully improve how substance-abuse treatment facilities hire people and how they work to help others.”

Lewis urges students not to be afraid to ask for help. “Reach out to who you are comfortable with,” Lewis says. “If not family, then reach out to friends. If your friends aren’t supportive and you’d rather talk to strangers, you can do that too.”

Thomas Hall��’16�ʳ��, led UCF’s substance-disorders prevention efforts at UCF before being recently appointed to direct Orange County’s Drug-Free Coalition. He said the university’s recovery efforts have three goals: provide services for students who recognize they need help, create programs that help those already in recovery be successful at UCF and graduate, and provide a substance-free culture for students seeking a different college environment.

“Many students are looking for alternatives to the worn out, stale, old narratives about excessive college drinking,” says Hall, who emphasized that not everyone in college is partying.

“I have seen the data and despite what people think, today’s 18 to 24-year-old students are drinking less than those before them,” Hall says. “Last year, over 40 percent of UCF first-time-in-college students reported they didn’t drink at all in their senior year of high school.”

Paul and Lewis say those statistics are encouraging, but they know too well the dangers of substance abuse and addiction. They say recovery is a difficult, ongoing journey. They hope that by sharing their stories, they can show others at UCF that with support recovery is possible

As Paul explains, “If you have a problem or you know someone who has a problem, know that there is a way out.”

Along with resources available through Student Health Services, there are several recovery meetings available for UCF community members:

Alcoholics Anonymous: Actions of Recovery

• Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. at thePoint After Dark in the Neptune multipurpose room.

Al-Anon: Serenity Now

• Mondays from 7 to 8 p.m. at thePoint After Dark

Narcotics Anonymous

• Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. at the Barbara Ying Center

For more information, visit .

Membership in the Collegiate Recovery Community at UCF is also an option for students who wish to seek assistance while maintaining their recovery during their time at UCF.

Members receive:

• Private study space
• Recovery coaching
• Substance-use counseling
• Fellowship and community recovery resources
• Centered academic and career advising
• Access to local support meetings

For more information, visit .

The tailgate, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., will be in the Veterans Academic Resource Center, located in Knights Plaza next to Jimmy John’s. It will feature several guests, including NFL Super Bowl Champion Fred Stokes and NFL Star Vance Johnson. “The Couch Live Radio Show” will also be broadcasting live from the event.

Food catered by local Mission BBQ and drinks will be provided, thanks to Advanced Recovery Systems, a local recovery treatment center, and the Camaraderie Foundation, which provides free mental health counseling to veterans, service members and their families. There will also be tailgating games for the whole family and door prizes.

The tailgate is sponsored by UCF’s Sober Knights, the UCF Student Veterans of America chapter and SALUTE Veterans Honor Society. Student leaders and advisors from these groups will be present if to meet and discuss how their organizations support students.

Thomas Hall, advisor to the Sober Knights student organization, said substance-free activities like the tailgate are “good for everyone” because they alter the misconception that college life must include use of alcohol and drugs.�� The goal of the tailgate, he said, is to offer a sober alternative to pre-game events and to celebrate students, faculty and staff who are in recovery.

“Universities may find if they offer alterative activities, sober curious students will find their way and change the narrative that drinking is central to having a good time,” Hall said.

Kickoff for UCF vs. Stanford is at 3:30 p.m.

For more information on the tailgate, contact crc@ucf.edu.

September is National Recovery Month and this year’s theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Together We Are Stronger,” carries an important message: We all play a role in recovery, whether or not we struggle personally with issues like depression, anxiety, alcohol, drug or nicotine abuse. All of us — as work colleagues, friends, family and health care providers — play a role in supporting each other to become physically, emotionally and spiritually stronger.

A number of resources are available at UCF to support those in recovery. Student Health Services offers and we have added recovery information — including smoking cessation — on the .

UCF is committed to helping those affected by mental-health challenges and substance-use disorders by raising awareness of these conditions and the recovery resources that are available.

In addition, we invite you to join us at the Veterans Academic Resource Center on Sept. 14 as for the UCF football game against Stanford that will celebrate recovery. The event is co-hosted by the Veterans Student Organization and UCF Sober Knights as well as recovery organizations from our community.

Behavioral health is essential to overall wellness. UCF is committed to helping those affected by mental-health challenges and substance-use disorders by raising awareness of these conditions and the recovery resources that are available. Prevention works, treatment is effective, and people can and do recover. Please join me in being a voice for recovery.

Let’s all stay well – together.