Fraternity and sorority members interested in raising awareness about safe alcohol consumption can now join the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life’s newest peer education program.

GW’s chapter of Greeks Advocating for the Mature Management of Alcohol, which launched earlier this semester, will provide a “proactive” way to increase knowledge around alcohol misuse and promote healthy decision-making among members of fraternities and sororities, officials said. Officials said participating students will involve fraternity and sorority life members in activities like a GW Late Night, which allows students to plan alcohol-free weekend gatherings, and coordinate safe alcohol consumption and bystander trainings.

“GAMMA will create and facilitate training, discussions and programming on topics including bystander intervention, responsible hosting and other health and alcohol education-related topics that make the most sense for the FSL community,” E’Quince Smith, the Office of Student Life assistant program coordinator, said in an email.

Smith said the Office of Student Life implemented the GW GAMMA chapter after “noting statistics and trends” for alcohol consumption in fraternity and sorority life across the country. He said the program is only open to members of the Interfraternity Council, Multicultural Greek Council, National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Panhellenic Association.

He said GAMMA will collaborate with the student-led health and substance education group Capital Peers and Health Promotion and Education staff to guide the group’s programming. He said students who participate will be nationally certified peer educators through the BACCHUS Network, the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators’ affiliate, and facilitate events like the National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week.

“GAMMA is a peer education model that is widely utilized by institutions across the nation and we look forward to incorporating it into our educational outreach here at GW,” Smith said.