A public service announcement video produced by NDSCS students and staff has been named one of two national winners of the 2020 Red Ribbon Week Campus Video PSA Contest. The video is available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UBQVDtTj3A.

The video, titled Challenge the Perceptions We See, was produced by the NDSCS Media Squad, a student organization that creates videos to inform the College community about activities, events and important topics. As the Contest winner, NDSCS received $3,000 to support campus drug abuse prevention efforts. The NDSCS Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs (ATOD) Prevention Team, which focuses on student success by promoting and supporting low-risk decisions regarding ATOD use through the College and broader community, will use the funds to further prevention and education regarding the harmful effects of ATOD use in creative and engaging ways.

The winning video features a poem written by Bethany Mauch, NDSCS Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Prevention Specialist, and Kerri Kava, NDSCS Assistant Director for Student Life, and performed by NDSCS Liberal Arts (Music Transfer) student Abby Marfell of Fergus Falls, Minn. The video was produced and directed by Mauch and Kava.

Due to the ongoing education and prevention efforts of the ATOD Prevention Team, NDSCS has experienced a decline in the 30-day student alcohol use rate, going from 78.6% in 2008 to 55.9% in 2018; and overall alcohol and other drug-related negative consequences have decreased among students.

The Red Ribbon Week Campus Video PSA Contest was sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration, and the winning entry was announced at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) 2021 Strategies Conference, which was held virtually. Contest entries were 30- to 60-second antidrug PSA videos that focused on the dangers of alcohol and drug abuse among college students.