2/26/2002
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, an outspoken and often controversial spokesperson on health, sex and public policy issues, will speak in East Lansing on the challenges universities and communities face regarding high-risk drinking.
Elders, the first African-American to serve in the position of surgeon general of the Public Health Service, will discuss "Prevention or Punishment: Challenging the Environment of High-Risk Drinking in a University Community" at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, in the Performing Arts Theater of the new East Lansing Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road.
Elders served as surgeon general from September 1993 to December 1994. She argued the case for universal health coverage and was a spokesperson for Clinton's health care reform efforts. She advocated comprehensive health education, including sex education in the schools, and was forced to resign after 15 months of service following controversial remarks about sex education. She supported distribution of condoms, abortion rights and the use of marijuana for medical purposes, and proposed increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol. "We've been looking at alcohol use among college students as a behavioral issue," said Jasmine Greenamyer, an alcohol and other drug health educator at Michigan State University's Olin Health Center.
"We've been looking for ways to foster community dialogue and we thought Dr. Elders would be a great speaker to open up the lines of communication."
Members of the MSU and city of East Lansing American Campus and Alcohol Team have been working to educate their respective communities about the attitudes, behaviors and perceptions associated with the use of alcohol.
"This type of campus-community initiative indicates our commitment to continuing to learn more about effective alcohol and drug education in a campus community, " said Jean Golden, deputy city manager for the city of East Lansing and a member of the team. "Elders plans to focus on what our college community can learn about how to approach the problems of substance abuse."
Elders received her bachelor of arts degree in biology from Philander Smith College in Little Rock, Ark. She worked as a nurse's aide in a Veterans Administration hospital in Milwaukee before joining the U.S. Army in 1953. She received her medical degree from the University of Arkansas Medical School.
She served as director of the Arkansas Department of Health from 1987 to 1993. After serving as surgeon general, she resumed her professional career at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine.
She has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Coalition of 100 Black Women's Candace Award for Health Science, and was listed in "100 Outstanding Women in Arkansas" and "Distinguished Women in America."
Program sponsors include the American Campus and Alcohol Team, Mid-South Substance Abuse Commission, Associated Students of MSU, MSU College of Human Medicine, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine, MSU Department of Police and Public Safety, MSU Multicultural Development and the MSU Office of Racial Ethnic Student Affairs.
The East Lansing Hannah Community Center was formerly a public school that served the community since 1926. The building was restored as a multiuse community center and reopened in January.