The Campus Office of Substance Abuse and Prevention is hosting Lobo Ladies’ Night, an event with the goal of showing women that drinking is not the only way to have fun, but just one of many options. The event will take place on Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in the SUB Ballroom.
Tiffany Martinez, project manager at COSAP, said the event is geared toward women with the message that they don’t always have to drink to have a good time.
“We thought, ‘well what about giving them alternative ways in which to have fun or de-stress? Find something to do other than drink,’” Martinez said. “We figured, what is something fun that all ladies like to do, that is going to be mostly fun but we can throw our educational pieces in there as well? So we thought of a ladies night.”
The event is part of the DOLLS program, which stands for Diary of a Lady Lobo. DOLLS was created by COSAP to provide students with information about alcohol use specifically relating to women, according to their website.
The event will offer many activities and leisure all free of charge, she said, including mas sages, henna tattooing, hairstyling and more.
There will be yoga classes sponsored by Del Norte Sports and Wellness and salsa and belly-dancing lessons offered by the LGBTQ resource center, she said.
COSAP will have a table set up with a prize wheel as well, offering up to 85 prizes all donated by local businesses, such as Lush cosmetics and the European Wax Center, she said.
Free food and drink, including green chile stew, hot cocoa, apple cider and cookies will also be provided to those attending, she said.
“People are really supporting us because they care about what happens, especially with drinking in New Mexico,” Martinez said. “It’s super prevalent here. Anything that we can do to decrease that prevalence or increase the perception of risk, that there are consequences for heavy drinking.”
The idea for a Lady Lobo night came up last semester, she said.
The event was pushed back until now and Martinez, along with Michelle Cruz and Rachel Abeyta, has worked diligently on it for the last three months.
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Michele Cruz, a marketing assistant for COSAP, said she worked with Martinez to reach out to different departments, such as the LGBTQ Resource Center, for assistance in putting on the event.
Cruz also reached out to ensure the event and content is relevant to women in today’s culture and that they used the proper terminology and knew the physiological differences between women’s and men’s body types, along with how alcohol affects them differently.
“What our event is for and what this whole program is about is to address negative consequences that come from drinking too much, binge drinking and having a problem with that like drinking and driving or drinking to where it affects your health,” she said. “It’s been a learning experience for me too, as a woman, seeing how it affects my body. So while I’m learning I’m also excited to teach other women about it too.”
Statistically, college females have caught up with college males in terms of binge drinking and alcohol consumption in general, Martinez said — an unsettling reality that needs to be addressed without wagging fingers or pointing blame.
Women’s bodies do not metabolize alcohol in the same way and many don’t realize just how different its effects are and how dangerous those effects can be, she said.
Rachel Abeyta, a junior art studio major who works at COSAP, did the graphic design and research to provide this information to those attending. She said she knows that lecturing is not the way to reach people and has helped make the event a learning experience that is also fun, without judgment.
“A lot of it is really positive messages,” Abeyta said. “That’s why all the fun activities are there, kind of alternatives. All of it is really positive, there’s nothing there that shames anyone for drinking. It’s about being as safe as you can.”
Martinez is confident in the work COSAP has been doing and is excited for the event, she said.
“Prevention works, it’s proven in many cases and scenarios, whether it’s obesity or substance abuse or anything,” she said. “The DOLLS program really gives women a sense of comfort and a way to not only see themselves as an individual or maybe as a college student who drinks a lot, but also see themselves as part of a group who can combat any obstacles that come in their way. Hopefully it will help them make smarter choices and smarter decisions.”
Matthew Reisen is a freelance writer for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @DailyLobo.
