Building a campus recovery community
In 1988, Laitman created Recovery Housing on the New Brunswick campus, the first on-campus housing in the U.S. for students in recovery from alcohol and drug dependence. In 1993, Recovery Housing opened on the Newark campus. There are 25 beds in New Brunswick (which has its own on-campus house) and eight in Newark (in two apartments in a dorm). Resident students must be sober at least 90 days, have a sponsor and attend at least two 12-Step meetings a week. To get in, students must apply to Rutgers for admission and must contact the ADAP staff and set up an interview.
More than 350 students have resided in the specialized housing. Students have ranged in age from 17 to 43, but typically fall between 18 and 26. Undergraduates, master's candidates, law students and PhD candidates have lived there. In 2008, ADAP held its 25th-year reunion, attended by more than 125 alumni.
I was hired at Rutgers in the spring of 2009 under a grant from New Jersey's Division of Addiction Services. I was tasked to help recovering students access university resources, provide academic counseling, improve students' connection with the local recovery community, develop activities for students to have fun, and reduce the stigma that some experienced in being in recovery on a college campus. My first move was to reach out to the 60-plus ADAP alumni who still lived within 30 minutes of Rutgers, to ask what changes needed to be made and if they would be willing to serve as mentors and sponsors.
The alumni response was tremendous. They pointed out what worked (the existence of the house, the individual counseling at ADAP, the activities at Rutgers) and what didn't (there should be at least a 90-day waiting period before moving in, some students don't go to meetings for a week or two at a time, there is a need for quicker interventions by staff when a student's behavior seems strange). Many of the alumni's suggestions were implemented.
In August 2009, 23 students (11 returned from the previous year) and 13 alumni attended a move-in orientation at the Recovery House in New Brunswick. Students introduced themselves, and the alumni talked about their sobriety date, major, when they lived in the Recovery House, their year of graduation, what they do now, and their strongest piece of advice to students about living in the house and/or attending college (don't date anyone in the house, don't let the Recovery House be your only source of support, attend all of your classes, write for the school newspaper, study abroad). Next, students had to fill out a form that matched a particular life experience to a particular alumnus (who has run a marathon, who has never smoked a cigarette). Afterwards, a barbeque provided a more laid-back atmosphere for students and alumni to converse.
In August 2010, 23 students were joined by 16 alumni for orientation. After the introductions and advice by the alumni, an AA meeting was held in the house (another eight members of the recovery community showed up for that). The barbeque lasted deep into the night.
More than a game
Four students joined seven alumni in an 11-man NFL Madden video game league last fall. I have run a video game football league at Rutgers for 10 years. Everyone in the league is in recovery or is a friend of recovery.
Big Fun, as the league is called, runs from August through March. Members enjoy the competition, camaraderie and fellowship that the league provides. Current resident Ryan D. said, “The league helped me meet friends I never would have had and helped me find a sponsor who has helped keep me alive. And society says video games are bad.”
Alex Q., a 2006 graduate, stated, “I have been working professionally for the past three years and it is tough sometimes for me to balance my social life with working long hours in my sales career. Playing in the league has helped me maintain friendships with 10 to 15 other sober individuals, and I really have fun in doing so.”
Brian F., a 2006 graduate, reported, “Your character defects can come out pretty quickly during or after a game. It's a great way to measure your growth.”
Chad L., a Rutgers alumnus who got sober after he graduated, connected with the recovery community through the Big Fun league. “The Madden league probably saved my sobriety and perhaps life,” he said. “I tend to isolate and that is when things get bad for me. Madden gave me a reason to come out. It also allowed me to create a network of sober friends. This network has essentially become my closest friends. Being around sober people so much really solidified this way of life for me.”
This year, 15 people are playing in Big Fun (nine alumni, six students). There are three sponsor-sponsee relationships in the league, and some of the alumni in the league sponsor other residents who don't play. Various alumni are around several nights a week (depending upon when their game is), and the game playing is often accompanied by dinner and 12-Step meeting attendance.
Other events
In October 2009, 20 students played 17 alumni in a softball game on the Cook College (Rutgers' agricultural and biological science campus) athletic fields. The alumni won-while most of them had quit smoking years ago, a big puff of smoke hung over the students' dugout. A barbeque and AA meeting were held at the Recovery House after the game.
On Nov. 14, 2009, the first recovery karaoke night was held. There was an NA meeting at the Recovery House, followed by dinner and then karaoke at the Cook College student center. Twenty-six students (some students in recovery who didn't live in the Recovery House attended) were joined by 22 alumni. A number of the participants were natural singers and even more natural hams. Others were quite shy and didn't want to sing; a couple of them eventually did sing, and then it was difficult to get the microphone out of their hands. Students with tough-guy images let their guard down, and a few very serious students allowed themselves to act silly.
In May 2010, 12 students who had made extensive use of ADAP services graduated from a variety of programs at Rutgers. Nine of them participated in a special ceremony on campus (eight of them had lived in Recovery Housing at some point). More than 60 people attended the ceremony, including the nine graduates, several ADAP counselors, an outside therapist, family members, friends, sponsors, classmates, alumni and current students in recovery.
I served as MC, telling students that they had the chance to be “old timers in AA and NA when they were still young.” Students were given a Rutgers alumni mug and could choose from a selection of books that were purchased for this event (Huxley's Brave New World, a collection of Pablo Neruda's poetry, Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, both of Junot Diaz's books, Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, and several others). Students were told that the book would actually choose them.
Each graduate was presented by a person of his/her choice. For example, two students chose to present each other, citing their strong friendship (one brought his three-year-old daughter to the podium and talked about how he learned to be a father here). A student who graduated with an MSW had her Rutgers ADAP counselor present her, and they talked about their four-year relationship and how the student stayed sober and supported her mother while she was dying of cancer. A husband presented his wife, who graduated with an MBA and an MPH; he talked about her 10 years of sobriety and said they met because his wife chose to attend Rutgers in the late 1990s because of the Recovery House. A current student presented one of the graduates, and talked about how he followed her into recovery, then the school of social work, and then the Recovery House.
Graduates had a chance to thank their presenters. All of them thanked their parents and family (six people flew in from Moscow to see their loved one graduate, and when the student thanked his grandmother in Russian, there wasn't a dry eye in the house). Many of the graduates cried and said they couldn't believe they were 22, 25, 27, or 34 and graduating college (some of them wore their gowns at the ceremony, and those that did also wore their Recovery Honor Cords).
Afterwards, several parents said that this “was far better than graduation itself” because it was “so personal” and that their children “had a chance to talk and thank those that helped them.”
Eight of the nine students who graduated have been involved in activities and mentoring of current students (either in recovery or struggling to get there) this summer and fall (five of them attended the move-in weekend). One of them said, “ADAP helps us when we are students. After we graduate, we turn around and help ADAP and the new students.”
Megan F., a 2007 graduate and former RA of the Recovery House, stated, “Whenever Rutgers calls, I come running. I love the House and everything it stands for.”
Conclusion
The alumni are the greatest strength the Rutgers recovery program has. They donate their money and, more importantly, their time to the program. They show up for activities because they see old friends, because it's fun, and because it's an incredible opportunity to mentor or even sponsor current students.
The alumni are role models. Many have gone on to get graduate degrees (law, social work, business, English, public health, education), and most have successful and rewarding careers. The alumni are often close friends and help one another as well. A number of the alumni have married other alumni. It's a great big family at Rutgers, where recovery, education and fun go hand in hand.
Frank L. Greenagel, Jr., LCSW, LCADC, ACSW, CJC, is a Recovery Counselor at the Alcohol and Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) at Rutgers University. His e-mail address is greenage@rci.rutgers.edu. Addiction Professional 2011 March-April;9(2):26-29
