Her Campus sat down with Ana Deacon, President of GAMMA at Bryant University, to talk about Greek life, safe drinking, and new things in store for the organization.
Her Campus: What is GAMMA?
Ana Deacon: GAMMA! Greeks Advocating Mature Management of Alcohol. We are a safe drinking club. Greek life has a terrible reputation for being all about partying. While socializing is an important part of every college experience, it is important to learn your limits so the fun doesn’t have to stop. We are here to promote this behavior for all college students- not just those involved in Greek life.
HC: What made you want to be president of GAMMA?
AD: During my sophomore year I became one of my chapter’s GAMMA representatives. When I was first getting acquainted with the organization’s environment, it was clear that the message we were trying to send was not taken all too seriously. I saw a lot of potential in this club to start making small changes around campus that could potentially cause bigger impacts down the road. I’ve also personally been affected by the effects of alcoholism because of how its toll on various friends and family members, so safe drinking has been important to me since I’ve been aware of what alcohol is. Very early on I was public about my interest in the role of president, which I believed helped me come election time as I ran unopposed.
HC: What are somethings you want to see change about drinking culture at Bryant?
AD: Well first I think it needs to stop being seen as “weak” or “uncool” to “mix in a water.” I promise it’s even more uncool to be throwing up in someone else’s toilet or passed out on their floor. Also, not just Bryant students, but most young adults should reevaluate their goals when going out, it should more so be about unwinding and socializing versus trying to get really messed up or blacking out. I can honestly say I’ve never blacked out in my life and the thought of not being able to remember short term memories completely freaks me out. Our college experience is supposed to be one of the best times of our lives, so wouldn’t we rather remember it?
A really good friend of mine once said, “If you smoke too much pot, you’ll fall asleep. If you drink too much, you’ll make a fool out of yourself” and people seem to forget that. It’s not a good look to be too messed up. You put yourself at a much higher risk of saying things you don’t mean, bad temperament, and general crappiness (in terms of personality and how you’ll feel the next morning). Be nice to people, be nice to yourself, don’t drink too much!
HC: What is GAMMA currently up to?
AD: Right now we are working on a few different things. Our overarching goal is to make GAMMA relevant so everyone takes it seriously. One thing we are doing this semester is providing each Greek life chapter at Bryant with a refillable water jug complete with the GAMMA logo. We are asking that each house keeps this jug out when hosting parties so everyone attending always has access to drinkable water. Chapters are aware that they can only keep water in this jug, and each GAMMA representative knows they are responsible for insuring that the jug is out at parties and is kept filled. The jug is going to be passed down to each chapter’s respective house from year to year with replacements as needed.
For next semester, we are hoping to have a drunk driving simulator around homecoming weekend so students can experience the risks of drunk driving first hand. More details to come!
HC: What events does GAMMA hold?
AD: During Greek Week GAMMA was able to host Mocktails, an event where chapters compete to produce the most creative and best tasting non-alcoholic cocktails (hence the term mocktails). This year was our first year hosting an event that was happening simultaneously that also counted for points towards Greek Week scores, which was an obstacle course where you had to wear drunk goggles while going through it. In past years Mocktails has been a drag because 70% of the chapter needs to attend to be able to compete but only about five people are involved in the actual making of the drinks. This year three more people were able to get involved by doing the course and the extra people were able to watch. It was honestly a riot, I hope the event sticks in the future.
But most importantly, GAMMA’s big event is Bryant’s Best! We give out samples of pizza during spring weekend from around ten different restaurants in the area and everyone who participates gets to vote for which pizza they thought was best (limit of three samples for each person).
This year Bryant’s Best will be Saturday, April 28th at Papitto in the FSC.