The Core Institute at SIUC has been awarded a $252,102 grant by the U.S. Department of Education to help them continue to raise awareness of the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse on college campuses.

The award was announced by U.S. Congressman, Jerry Costello Sept. 15.

For many years, SIUC has been at the forefront of relaying the dangers of alcohol abuse on college campuses, Costello said. This grant will give a boost to that effort, which will encompass information about the use of illegal drugs as well.

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The Core Institute at SIUC, part of the Student Health Department, and analyzes and reports drug and alcohol use through surveys.

Cheryl Presley, director of the Core Institute, said the Institute surveys college students all around the country on what students believe about the effects of drugs and alcohol.

The Core Institute has over 1,000 college institutions it studies and over half-a-million students in its directory that have been surveyed, Presley said.

The Core Institute will survey an institution and score it for them and then send the results back to them. The institute is important because drug awareness has never been studied in such a large way, She said.

SIUC has helped to calculate the findings from the drug awareness surveys for some time according to Presley.

SIU has carefully helped calculate the dangerous affects to students and on their study habits and health posed by alcohol, Costello said. This grant will allow the University to continue its valuable work in this field.

The funding was awarded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Drug Prevention Program according to Presley. The funding starts on Sept. 15, 1995 and lasts until Oct. 14, 1997.

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