The University of Colorado at Boulder is in the process of admitting a small group of clean and sober undergraduates recovering from addictive disorders to participate in its new Center for Â鶹ÒùÔº in Recovery starting this fall.
Created last spring to support those in recovery from addiction -- primarily alcohol and drugs -- the Center for Â鶹ÒùÔº in Recovery is admitting its first five students this month, said program coordinator Jack Lavino. The center is providing the students with needs assessment, academic and housing support, 12-step meetings, addiction recovery education and community service opportunities, he said.
All participating students are at least six months clean and sober and actively involved in structured recovery programs and community outreach efforts and meet the standard academic requirements of the university, Lavino said. "We are providing them support wherever they need it," he said. "It may come in the form of academics, life skills issues or whatever it is they need to maintain their recoveries and succeed at CU-Boulder."
The CU-Boulder effort is based on a model, 20-year-old program emphasizing peer-based support at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, said Lavino. The Texas Tech program is admitting 90 recovering students this academic year and is partially funded by a $2 million scholarship endowment. CU is collaborating with Texas Tech administrators, who have visited campus and have provided CU with curriculum materials developed with a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Education.
"This recovery center completes a continuum of care that CU-Boulder provides for students regarding addiction problems and solutions," said Robert Cranny, director of the campus's Wardenburg Health Center. CU-Boulder already has a number of alcohol education initiatives in place, including a program that helps parents of incoming students communicate with their children regarding alcohol use and abuse and includes follow-up studies on participating families, Cranny said.
Cranny said he believes the number of CU-Boulder students in recovery from addiction is significantly higher than many have anticipated, making the new center an even more important resource on campus.
"We are feeling very positive about this program, and it's exciting to have students contacting us and showing interest," said Lavino.
Funded by $50,000 in seed grants from the CU Parents Fund, the center also recently received a $5,000 donation from the Louis and Harold Price Foundation of Louisville, said Lavino. The new center is expected to become self-funded through contributions and grants beginning in 2007.
The program will include weekly "celebration of recovery" meetings on campus beginning Sept. 20. Open to all members of the Boulder community who are in recovery or are supporting family or friends in recovery, the meetings will be held on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. in room 231 of Willard Hall on campus. "We hope people in recovery throughout the community will come to these meetings and help support our students," Lavino said.
The new center is housed at the College Inn on 17th Street and Arapahoe Avenue.
Lavino said the center will be holding a "Rally for Recovery" at the University Memorial Center's Dalton Trumbo Fountain Court at noon on Sept. 15 as part of National Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month.
CU-Boulder is one of six universities in the country with student recovery programs. Others include Texas Tech, the University of Texas at Austin, Rutgers University, Case Western University and Augsburg College in Minneapolis. The center also is in contact with nearly three-dozen recovery high schools in the United States. For more information visit .