NEWS

[April 17th, 2023] Yesterday on the steps of the Arkansas State Capitol, students, community leaders, and law makers came together to bring awareness to college substance misuse. “Save AR Students is a powerful event to bring about the health and safety of our student populations in a destructive drug culture,” said ARORP Director Kirk Lane during the event. “Our students must be empowered to believe that they can inspire change and truly understand that they can save us, their communities, and their state. They can be the strongest voice in the room, right now, if we allow them to be.”

The event is hosted biannually by the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Adult, Aging, and Behavior Health Services. Among the speakers for the Spring 2023 event were Attorney General Tim Griffin, State Representative Tara Shepherd, Secretary of the Arkansas Department of Human Services Kristi Putnam, Director of the Division of Aging, Adult, and Behavioral Health Services Jay Hill, Arkansas State Drug Director Tom Fisher, ARORP Director Kirk Lane, and a host of students and people in long term recovery advocating for Arkansas students.

Among those students were Stella Radke and Kasey Jordan, two UCA interns led by Dr. Stephanie Rose, who have together been hosting naloxone hero trainings. UCA has been one of the first university’s to install NaloxBoxes, an initiative by DHS DAABHS to add naloxone to college campuses, and to receive opioid settlement dollars to host naloxone trainings through ARORP’s Naloxone Hero program. Radke and Jordan have been instrumental in the Naloxone Hero Program, leading trainings on and off campus. They spoke to their passion for preventing drug overdoses on campus.