Colo. College Ministry Tackles Alcohol Abuse

The Lighthouse, a Christian ministry located in a former Colorado State University frat house where a sophomore died of alcohol poisoning last year, works to prevent alcohol abuse on campus, the Boston Globe reported Nov. 25.

Sponsored by the nearby Assemblies of God Timberline Church, the Lighthouse generally promotes safe alcohol consumption, not abstinence. But the 21 students living at the house must pledge to remain alcohol-free. Harm-reduction activities undertaken by the Lighthouse include a Friday night pancake dinner from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. to put some food in the stomachs of students who have been out drinking, water-bottle handouts, and a shuttle bus from the school to downtown Fort Collins. The ministry also sponsors alcohol-free parties.

''We're not trying to kill someone's college experience," said pastor Reza Zadeh, 28. ''We just don't want them to get killed while in college."

Zadeh also serves on the board of the Sam Spady Foundation, named after the 19-year-old former homecoming queen who died at the school last year after a night of heavy drinking. "The Lighthouse to me offered hope for the future," said Spady's mother, Patty. "It is putting the kids on notice that not everything has to be surrounded by alcohol."

A program similar to the Lighthouse was recently established at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.