Support groups from 10 schools across SC attend Collegiate Recovery Day

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Support groups from 10 different schools across South Carolina came together at the Statehouse for the 2nd annual “Collegiate Recovery Day.”

The event provides encouragement to college and university students who are recovering from drug and alcohol abuse.

Hosted by the University of South Carolina and its support program Gamecock Recovery, the celebration kicked off with a friendship circle led by members of the Catawba Nation.

Advocates came as far away as Clemson University, College of Charleston, and Greenville Tech, and from schools right here in the Midlands like Benedict College, SC State, and Allen University.

Also attending were members of the SC Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, as well as Lutheran Services Carolinas.

Raylyn Garner is a graduate assistant with Gamecock Recovery. She says the programs offered by the schools are vital to campus health and wellness.

“Collegiate recovery programs are life saving. They’re life changing. They create a space that is just full of support and compassion and it’s just a space that you don’t know what it’s like till you’re in it, and it’s just a beautiful area and beautiful space to be surrounded by beautiful humans,” says Garner.

Aimee Hourigan is the Director for Substance Abuse and Prevention at USC.

She says the programs offer community, and connection to people who are going through similar life experiences, with positive benefits.

“Individual level we see a ton of impact in students that are able to get to graduation. And so the number of students who can’t figure out how they’re gonna be able to do this. Right? So they’re really thinking about ‘how am I going to go back to the college where I was drinking and partying and be able to graduate.? And what these programs offer is that opportunity to finish the degree. To seek out what they started and to be able to finish that education that’s so important,” says Hourigan.

And recovery is not just sitting around feeling sad and sharing your feelings — it’s fun.

“Hang out together in a lounge. Have pizza. Dance until three in the morning. Do all the things that college students are supposed to do without having to sacrifice their recovery in the process,” she says.

According to Gamecock Recovery, five percent of all college students across the U.S. are in recovery from a substance abuse disorder.