Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Office of Student Wellness has received a two-year, $40,970 grant from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) through the PLCB’s Bureau of Alcohol Education’s Reducing Underage Drinking and Dangerous Drinking initiative.
IUP Coordinator of Student Wellness Jennifer McCroskey authored the grant proposal. The Office of Student Wellness is part of the IUP Center for Health and Well-Being.
This funding is part of IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive campaign, which centers around raising funds for healthy students, including supporting students academically and personally; a healthy university, including maintaining IUP’s commitment to excellence and innovation; and healthy communities, including IUP’s work to establish a college of osteopathic medicine.
“The grant funds will help us to continue our work to reduce underage drinking and high-risk drinking through an evidence-based program and other educational and skill building events, including through IUP’s Green Dot Bystander Intervention program,” McCroskey said. McCroskey is a Green Dot Bystander Intervention Certified Trainer and previous IUP campus coordinator for Green Dot.
The Green Dot Bystander Intervention program began at IUP in 2017. The Green Dot model views all community members as potential bystanders and gives them the tools they need to recognize and respond to high-risk situations. The Green Dot curriculum, built on the base of significant national research, has been shown to prevent multiple forms of interpersonal violence when a critical mass of individuals is engaged as peers in the effort.
Since 2017, more than 5,588 students and more than 350 employees at IUP have completed Green Dot training. The Green Dot program is based in the IUP Haven Project, which provides counseling and support for students who experience sexual and domestic and relationship violence. The Haven Project also provides education on sexual and domestic/relationship violence, stalking, consent, sexual wellness, and bystander education.
The Office of Student Wellness: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs Program and the Haven Project will collaborate to offer the additional training funded through the grant. The grant also funds an “Alcohol Awareness for Student Leaders and Influencers” and “Alcohol Awareness for New College Students” trainings which are provided by PLCB trainers; funding for student workers to work with the project; and attendance at the annual PLCB Alcohol Education Conference.
“We also will continue to engage our students in discussions around high-risk and dangerous drinking, and provide skill building training to our campus community, including arming our students with the skills to intervene in situations where unsafe alcohol use contributes to negative behaviors,” McCroskey said. “The Green Dot model provides students with valuable intervention skills to help to make IUP a safer campus by reducing dangerous and high-risk alcohol-related consequences,” she said.
Prior to the training, participants will be provided with an alcohol self-assessment tool, so they can gauge their own alcohol level of risk. After the training, students will be provided with resources where they can turn for help if they have concerns about their alcohol use.
“We recognize that many IUP students who are of legal drinking age and decide to drink, make responsible choices,” McCroskey said. “We will build responsible alcohol use for those of legal drinking age into the appropriate presentations and events, utilizing harm reduction techniques to give skills they can use when needed,” she said.
IUP’s Impact 150 campaign has a goal of $150 million; it is the largest campaign in the history of the university. The campaign is named in honor of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration, celebrated during the 2025-2026 academic year. As of March 31, IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive fundraising campaign stands at more than $114.5 million, or 76.34 percent of goal, with 50,150 gifts from 13,138 donors.
Since its founding in 1875, IUP has evolved from a teacher-training institution into a doctoral research university recognized for its commitment to student success and achievement. IUP’s Impact 150 comprehensive campaign is designed to honor a legacy of educational excellence while looking toward a future of innovation, public service, and leadership in healthcare education, including the first college of osteopathic medicine at a public university in the commonwealth.