Celebrate and be safe: Party on the Paseo is April 14 at UTSA Main Campus

By Tim Brownlee
Assistant Director of Public Affairs

(April 13, 2011)--The UTSA Office of Student Activities will host the third annual "Party on the Paseo: Roadrunners Fiesta Sober" from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m., Thursday, April 14 at the University Center paseo on the Main Campus.

Free and open to the UTSA and San Antonio communities, the alcohol-free, unofficial Fiesta San Antonio event will include food, prize drawings, Mr. and Ms. UTSA, and live music from Castle Lights and The Hooch. Chili's Too in the University Center will offer specials during the event. Visitor parking will be available at a reasonable rate in the nearby parking garage.

Participants can meet artist Cecilia Mujica, UTSA alumnae and designer of the official 2011 Fiesta San Antonio poster; she will be available to sign autographs and posters.

Presented the same night as the unofficial college night at Fiesta's "Night in Old San Antonio" (NIOSA), Party on the Paseo is credited with a dramatic decrease in alcohol violations on campus during Fiesta. In the first year of the program, violations decreased from 14 to seven -- and were reduced to one last year.

The activities will share the message of enforcing laws regarding alcohol use and avoiding drunk driving. Last November, the event was named Outstanding Creative Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program at the national conference of BACCHUS, an international association of university peer education groups that creates programming on health and safety issues.

"Party on the Paseo is an opportunity to celebrate Fiesta in a safe and sober environment," said Kelsey Bratcher, UTSA associate director of student activities for risk education, alcohol and drug programs. "We want students and the community to have a good time, but also be smart and responsible about how they celebrate. It's okay to choose not to drink, but if you do, have a sober designated driver."

Party on the Paseo is sponsored by the UTSA student organization Be A Responsible Roadrunner (BARR), Campus Activities Board, Office of Student Judicial Affairs, Office of Housing and Residence Life, Campus Living Villages, Counseling Services, UTSA Police Department, Video Productions and ARAMARK. The event also is supported by a grant from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

For more information, call the UTSA Office of Student Activities at 210-458-4160.