This article first appeared on the Kennesaw State University website, republished with permission.

For the 18th consecutive year, Kennesaw State University’s Department of Health Promotion and Wellness has received a Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) grant to participate in the Georgia Young Adult Program (GYAP).

The GYAP uses strategies such as peer education, providing educational speakers to schools, and encouraging schools to develop creative, innovative techniques to reduce young adult crashes, injuries and fatalities in their communities.

“Part of the GOHS mission is to assist in the implementation of programs and campaigns designed to prevent crashes and eliminate traffic deaths on our roads,” said Allen Poole, director of the agency. “GOHS will continue to develop new partnerships and continue existing ones in order to create, refine and implement safety programs designed to help our state and nation reach our goal of zero traffic deaths.”

The GYAP program at Kennesaw State coordinates events and programming such as National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, Fall Festival and Safe Spring Break.

The grant funds:

• Peer Health Outreach and Wellness Leaders (OWLs) to attend the 2025 NASPA Peer Educator Conference;
• The creation of a campaign using Kennesaw State University’s 2024 American College Health Association’s National College Health Assessment III data to promote healthy and responsible choices when it comes to alcohol use and traffic safety issues among students;
• Purchasing of ads for social media outreach for Safe Spring Break, Fall Festival, seatbelt survey results, Wellness on Wheels: Alcohol Awareness, holiday drinking and driving, and other GOHS Impaired Driving campaigns; and
• A student assistant to help with planning, implementing, and evaluating programs, designing social media messages, collecting highway safety statistics, and other related activities as needed.

The grant award totals $31,579.44 and includes federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The grant period covers Oct. 1, 2024 to Sept. 30, 2025.