The Oswego State Dean of Students office is running a week-long focus on helping students find alternatives to social drinking and making safety plans if they decide to go out.

The program, called “It’s Okay to Not Drink,” will feature fall-themed events such as a pumpkin decorating event on Wednesday, Oct. 30, and a costumed Open Mic Night on Thursday, Oct. 31.

Participants can get free swag at these events in the form of colorful T-shirts and stickers featuring a goose and slogans promoting alcohol safety on campus.

According to Trisha DeWolf, the college administrator in charge of the program, Oswego State usually runs an alcohol awareness program during mid-October for National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week. This week Oswego State chose to push their program back to the week of Halloween to give the events a fun theme and provide an alternative to holiday partying.

Students were generally positive about the event, though some were confused about the decision to use a goose on the shirts and stickers. DeWolf said the goose was chosen due to the relationship the birds have with the campus.

“I would wear that shirt,” Andrew Caprin, a freshman political science student at Oswego State said. “I don’t know, there’s something about it, something charming about birds.”

Students agreed that college drinking can be a problem for students.

“I think it’s good, I think college kids can definitely get crazy with drinking,” Amber Hammond, an adolescent education major, said. “I feel like it’s good to explore safer alternatives to drinking while still having fun.”

Caprin felt that the focus on helping students feel comfortable not drinking was a better direction than the college choosing to crack down on those that choose to drink.

“I think it’s better to show it’s okay not to [drink] rather than a harsh ‘Don’t,’” Caprin said. “A lot of people I know actually enjoy pumpkin carving, it’s one of those things where it’s like, maybe it’s not hip with the kids but the kids don’t care.”

According to Hammond, students might feel pressured to go out in order to be social and make new  friends.

“I think it definitely says a lot about peer pressure, I feel like a lot of kids definitely feel like they have to drink in order to have fun with everybody else,” Hammond said. “You don’t have to drink!”

Providing an opportunity for students to gather and celebrate without alcohol is a great way to build the campus community and help students socialize, according to sophomore human development student Sarah Parsons.

“I think it’s a good message, in college and in general, a lot of people face peer pressure, either from peers or social media,” Parsons said. “I think having that message being put out there allows people to know they’re not alone, if they don’t want to drink there are other people that don’t want to drink too and participate in that. So, I think it’s really good, especially around this time when there’s so much going around on social media.”

According to some students, going to parties and socializing with peers that want to party can put students in uncomfortable positions.

“I feel like just in general, when you go to a college campus there’s a lot of people that want to live the party life and sometimes it is hard to avoid it,” Karina Rivera, a zoology major at Oswego State, said. “There are some people that respect your wishes, like ‘okay, you don’t want to drink, you don’t want to do drugs, that’s okay,’ but then there are others that are like ‘come on, don’t be a downer, just do it.’”

DeWolf said one of the goals of the events during the week is to provide free food like brownies and pizza during the evening events, so students if students choose to go out and drink afterwards, at least they will have food in their stomach to slow the absorption of alcohol. This along with tips like drinking water while out, monitoring alcohol consumption and ensuring students have a plan for getting to and getting home from wherever they socialize is an important part of “It’s Okay Not to Drink” week, according to DeWolf.

“Never let anyone else mix your drinks, my sister was put into the hospital for alcohol poisoning and severe dehydration a couple weeks ago,” Brandi Ashley, an Oswego State junior, said. “[Her friend] made her drinks way too strong. She only had four drinks and she laid down in the pool for a couple hours and then my sister went in and out of consciousness and had to be rushed to the hospital.”

If a student needs help after drinking or taking anything, according to DeWolf, under college Good Samaritan rules, calling for help will not result in discipline for the student. DeWolf said this is to ensure student safety comes first and it is better to get medical assistance as soon as possible instead of worrying about getting in trouble with the school.