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Nervous about starting at Michigan State? Worried about your class schedule, living away from home, or where to even start? The Spartan Orientation Station (SOS) is a podcast hosted by New Student Orientation staff and was created by students for students. This podcast will launch twice a week throughout the summer, and each episode will feature a unique interview with campus departments discussing their services, common misconceptions, and fun Spartan engagement opportunities. When you need help at Michigan State, it is okay to signal SOS! Don’t worry – MSU is there for you.
You're listening to the Spartan Orientation Station on Impact eighty nine FM, the podcast by students for students. Now this week's episode.
Myles M.:Hello, everyone. Welcome back to the Spartan Orientation Station. On this week's episode of our Living Community Series, we are featuring the Collegiate Recovery Community. The Collegiate Recovery Community, also known as the CRC, serves students in or seeking recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction. They aim to provide a supportive campus community in which students in recovery can thrive.
Myles M.:My name is Myles McGee. I'm a fourth year business management major and a student coordinator in the New Student Orientation Office. And I'm here with
Kirsten D.:I'm Kirsten. I'm also a student coordinator at the NSO office, and I am a rising third year social relations and policy major.
Myles M.:And today, we're welcoming Dawn from the Collegiate Recovery Community. Can you begin by introducing yourself and your role at MSU?
Dawn K.:Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Dawn Kepler, she, her pronouns. I am the coordinator for MSU's Collegiate Recovery Community and on campus recovery housing.
Kirsten D.:Welcome to the show. Can you talk about what the College Recovery Community is?
Dawn K.:Yeah. MSU's Collegiate Recovery Community, or I might say CRC for short because it's a mouthful, supports Spartans in and seeking recovery from substance use disorder, as well as allies. So we provide dedicated recovery spaces on campus. We raise the visibility of recovery while reducing the stigma associated with addiction and develop recovery oriented initiatives to meet the identified campus community needs.
Myles M.:How do you join the CRC? Are there any extra application steps?
Dawn K.:That's a great question. So for the Collegiate Recovery Community or CRC, our goal is to work to reduce barriers to connections. So there are no required steps. We use a no wrong door approach. So anyone can reach out to me via email, social media, by phone.
Dawn K.:Students can actually just drop by to our weekly CRC All Recovery meetings. They can talk with our student leaders or other students who are part of the community. Specifically for recovery housing, we do have an application where students complete the application to identify what their needs are, and then we set up an opportunity, a time for the students to talk with me about those needs and how recovery housing might help meet those needs to make sure that it's a fit for the students and supporting them. Great. So you talked about recovery housing.
Dawn K.:What residential hall is the CRC located in? The CRC with recovery housing is located in Mason Hall. So we're really fortunate to be near Student Services Building where the CRC student lounge is, where students have twenty four seven access, and many of the meetings and connection events are held. It's also near Olin Health Center as well as downtown East Lansing.
Myles M.:So with the CRC being housed near all these different resources for students, what resources does the CRC have available for students?
Dawn K.:The Collegiate Recovery Community is a peer based support. And so we provide those supports across a lot of different resources, depending so students can pick and choose what's most helpful for them. Through the CRC, we provide individualized recovery and goal planning where students have the chance to meet with a peer recovery coach or specialist. We have weekly on campus recovery support meetings, so opportunities to meet with their peers and get support that way. I mentioned we have our CRC student lounge, so that's 20 fourseven accessible space for students to meet with other students, just have a safe place to go where they know substances won't be.
Dawn K.:And we also do wellness and life skills workshops. So these are all student informed, student driven. For example, this semester we had a faculty member facilitate a workshop on the neurobiology of addiction and recovery. And so we usually have those every semester. We also do community service opportunities for many of our students in recovery.
Dawn K.:Giving back to others is a big part of their recovery. And so last year we went and volunteered with a student organic farm. So that's another great way where we connect with other communities on campus. We also, I mentioned, have community connection events and activities. One of our biggest is our Sober Tailgate every fall.
Dawn K.:And so we hope anyone who's interested will come out or any allies in support and join us to have some fun and watch the game on the big screen at our tailgate. We also have scholarships available, and I mentioned Recovery Housing, where we have live in student peer support.
Kirsten D.:Great. So you mentioned allies a second ago. If you don't identify with having a substance use disorder, are there resources or other ways to get involved with the CRC?
Dawn K.:Yes, this is a great question. Allies have been a huge part of the Collegiate Recovery Community from the beginning. Allies always participate in our events and activities. They're always welcome to join in meetings. Mentioned we have weekly peer support meetings.
Dawn K.:Those are all recovery meetings. And so any form of recovery, any ally is welcome to join us for those, our events and activities. Can you go a
Kirsten D.:little bit more in-depth about kind of what those meetings look like and how they're structured?
Dawn K.:So CRC All Recovery meetings are open to any students in recovery striving for recovery as well as allies. And as the name suggests, it's open to all forms of recovery. And so we've had students who obviously identify as in recovery from substance use disorder. We've had students who identify as in recovery from eating disorders and other forms of addiction. We also have had friends, family, and allies attend those meetings and get support.
Dawn K.:It's just a way to connect, and it's a very structured meeting. So students are able to come and engage at whatever level they feel comfortable with. So they can come and just listen or we do a circle sharing format. They have the opportunity when we come around the circle to share on the topic that's picked for that evening, which the students get the opportunity to pick that topic every week, or do a check-in or pass. And so it really is tailored to be an opportunity for students to connect at whatever level feels most comfortable for them.
Dawn K.:Other opportunities for allies to get involved include our opioid overdose prevention trainings, where we provide free Narcan. And we also have Recovery Ally training as well.
Myles M.:For these students that are looking to get involved, if they have questions about the program, what are some ways that they can contact the CRC?
Dawn K.:Students can reach out to connect with the CRC in any way that they feel most comfortable. So we have my phone number where students can reach me at (517) 353-5564 via email at recoverymsu dot edu. We also have an online form. So for some students, they might feel more comfortable providing information about their needs through an online form, and that's available as well. I mentioned students can just stop by.
Dawn K.:We have our weekly all recovery meeting in the Student Services Building in the Basement, Room 27, the CRC Student Lounge. Students can also reach out via social media as well. So Instagram m s u underscore recovery or at Healthy Spartans.
Kirsten D.:Great. So to kind of wrap us up, what is your favorite part about being a Spartan?
Dawn K.:So my favorite part is just the supportive communities that we have here at MSU. I love how our communities create cultures of care and really make it so that no one has to feel alone here at MSU and you always can find ways to connect with others.
Myles M.:I completely agree. Thank you, Don, for letting us know about another resource and community for students on campus. That wraps up another episode of the Spartan Orientation Station. Be sure to tune in next time to see who we feature next.
Narrator:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Spartan Orientation Station on Impact eighty nine FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at MSU underscore NSO.