by Sergio Lopez, Contributing writer
Southeastern hosted a presentation and panel discussion on substance abuse and addiction on Wednesday, April 6. FATE (fighting addiction through education) founder Reggie Whitten and five time pro-bowler Roy Williams were on campus to educate students about substance abuse.
“Most people don’t know how dangerous this stuff is.” said Whitten.
According to FATE’s brouchure, FATE is an Oklahoma non-profit organization with a goal to educate the public about dangerous substances and addiction. Its direct focus is to educate mostly young people to significantly reduce the incidence of substance abuse in the state.
FATE was created in memory of Whitten’s son Brandon who died at age 25 from a motorcycle accident caused by substance abuse. Whitten said, “I think the worst problem in this country has is drug and alcohol addiction.”
There were many students in attendance. Halston Harris, a freshman and offensive linemen, said “It’s shocking that an NFL star would come to Durant and talk to us.” Not only were students there to see Williams but some expressed that the event provided was valuable information.
“Some of my friends in high school didn’t graduate because of drugs and addiction. This information could have helped them out,” said Josh Higgins, sophomore and offensive lineman.
Many faculty members were in attendance as well, President Larry Minks and Regent John Massey were there to welcome the university’s guests.
The event took place in Bloomer Sullivan Arena at 7 p.m. The panel discussion guests included: Jim Priest (executive director of FATE), Emily Redman (District Attorney, Oklahoma District 19), Darrell Weaver (director, Oklahoma state Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control), and Holli Witherington (executive director of Brandon Whitten Institute for Addiction and Recovery at East Central University).
Roy Williams is a safety for the Cincinnati Bengals. Williams talked on the issue of two paths. He saw a lot of opportunities’ to “choose the wrong path” through his life, and admitted that he did not know how dangerous substances can potentially be. He also touched on the topic of experimenting.
“Some people fall victim to experimentation and slip through the cracks” said Williams.
In an interview before the discussion Williams said, “It is never too late to fight this, even when in college” and “if we only reach one person then we did our job.”
“We are not here to tell you how to live your life” said Whitten. The central focus to the whole program was education.
According to a pamphlet handed out at the event, the direct cost of substance abuse in Oklahoma in 2005 was 1.4 billion dollars according to the Governor’s and Attorney General’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Mental Health, Substance Abuse, and Domestic Violence.
There was a lot of information relating to direct economic impact of substance abuse in our area.
Following this information was the panel discussion and a question and answer section that was filled with facts and misconceptions about substance abuse and treatment. Whitten and Williams kept reiterating that they were not here to talk down to people. Whitten went on to say “If I were so smart I would not have buried my son.”
Whitten travels around the state with FATE speaking about the dangers of substance abuse by telling the story of his sons untimely death at the age of 25.
“We can’t control everything our children do, but we can educate them,” said Whitten. Whitten plans to continue doing this he said “it was his fate” to do so. Whitten wants to live by example and “motivate and inspire other people to do something.” Whitten said “ I hope that those who see what we’re doing will catch the vision and passion.”
The Website for FATE can be found at changeyourfate.org and has a variety of information on coping with addiction and substance abuse, as well as ways to relate to someone suffering from these issues.
The site also has links to local and state specific organizations with information on how you can help.