The Tuscaloosa Rotary Club welcomed James Snodgrass, the Director of the University of Alabama Collegiate Recovery Program. Mr. Snodgrass said he likes to operate behind the scenes, making the students shine. He himself is a recovering alcoholic. On June 4, 2004 he was arrested. This was rock bottom for him. He went through 6 months of treatment and was given a full scholarship because of his addiction along with 90 other students in a new program at Texas Tech.

He informed us that the students in the program at UA have an average GPA of 3.7. Take away the drugs and alcohol, ant they are brilliant students.

Anonymity is very important and the program provides an environment that is drug and alcohol free for these students. He was very adamant in stating that it is not UA that has a problem, it is all over the US. Collegiate Recovery is just being pro-active. It is not a perfect world.

The program requires that a student be clean for 6 months to get in. Students apply, start a 12 step program and then are considered for scholarships. Addiction is not limited to drugs and alcohol and may include food addictions, gambling, etc. The scholarships start at $250.00 and increase with their participation in community programs, making good grades, etc. The largest scholarship is $2,000.00. Scholarship money comes from individual donors.

The program provides clean and sober activities where you might normally find alcohol – like tailgating for these students so that they can be a part of the college experience without a risk to their sobriety.

The UA program is relatively new and is a replica of the Texas Tech program. All the SEC Colleges are in the process of implementing the program on their campuses. It is a very important program. Mr. Snodgrass very somberly advised us that since he became involved in the program in 2004, he has personally witnessed 40 students that have lost their lives to drugs and alcohol.

Snodgrass started with about 30 students at UA this past fall. There were more than 3 times that many that were not 6 months clean and sober yet, that are now starting to come into the program which now has about 50 – 60 participants now. He will work to find treatment centers for anyone who wants to get clean regardless of their financial situation. There are places for

everyone from the beginner to the chronic relapse student. He looks for specialized treatment based on the individual. Since the inception of the UA program there have been zero relapses!

The program is now in the process of getting a dorm for the program, which is crucial to the recovery of most students. He is praying for a miracle! The program needs scholarship donors, so if alcoholism has personally touched your family, please consider giving. It could change the life of a person early in their adult life and allow them to prosper and avoid years of pain and damage.