SW Oklahoma News

East Central University was awarded the Higher Education Prevention Services grant for Opioid and Stimulant prevention through the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

This grant will fund campus efforts to prevent opioid and stimulant misuse through education and evidence-based prevention services, Grant Coordinator Genan Westmoland said.  Some of the evidence-based prevention services include: life-saving Naloxone, prescription lock boxes, disposal bags for medication, campus needs assessment and outreach.

“With this grant, we are helping ECU students create a brighter future helping to secure student safety and retention,” Westmoland said. “I am extremely excited for this grant.”

The grant will measure reduction of opioid and stimulant misuse by administering the National College Health Assessment. Funding for this grant was awarded for three years at $100,000 a year, and the grant is renewable each year contingent on performance and availability of funding.

The grant is under the supervision of the ECU Brandon Whitten Institute Director Holli Witherington and Westmoland. 

The ECU Brandon Whitten Institute serves as the campus prevention center, and is also a training institute, and resource and referral center. BWI staff work with a variety of campus and community partners to provide workshops to the community, educate students, supply free prescription lockboxes and gun locks, and engage with local citizens to reduce drug use and increase help seeking behaviors.

For more information call 580-559-5815 or 580-559-5990.

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