To learn more about this collection please see the finding aid link found above, and/or visit the College and Lutheran Church Archives to use these primary sources.
Peer Assistants Program. Collection of the Peer Assistants Program, 1987-Ongoing. GACA Collection 347. 3 Records Center Cartons, 3 flat boxes, 1 oversize folder, and digital media.
ABSTRACT:
The Peer Assistants Program collection includes documents pertaining to events, advertisements, photographs, and other activities held on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College. Many scrapbooks are also included. The Peer Assistants Program aimed to provide education about healthy lifestyles and relationships while sponsoring a variety of student activities. The organization also cited its purpose as recognizing and addressing general issues confronting the student body, while providing a range of support options for individual students. Additional materials will be added to the collection as they are donated.
Some of the earliest documentation of the Peer Assistants Program appears in an issue of The Gustavian Weekly from 1982. The article describes the purpose of the Peer Assistants Program to “identify student needs, coordinate ideas and suggestions and assemble informational programs which will help support the Gustavus community in matters concerning the responsible use of alcohol and other drugs.” In partnership with the Office of Alcohol Education, the program provided students with resources such as information on alcohol laws, the effects of various drugs, as well as connections to resources both on and off campus, such as the counseling center and Alcoholics Anonymous. The student volunteers promoted information concerning general wellness, campus activities, and guides to the responsible consumption of alcohol as part of their mission to promote healthy lifestyles.
Information taken from the Peer Assistants Program’s official website, http://orgs.gustavus.edu/peer_assistants/, 23 September 2013 and an issue of The Gustavian Weekly from 9 November 1982.
