On the rainy night of August 23, 2010 Adam London, the 17 year old son of Bridgewater State University’s Provost, Dr. Howard London, was in a tragic car accident after losing control of his car. Now, BSU is hoping that by bringing the new campaign “A Promise to Adam” to campus, it will educate students of the dangers of reckless driving.
Adam was driving not far from his house when the accident occurred. It became known that he was speeding and was not wearing a seatbelt. Because of this, his family started the campaign “A Promise to Adam” to get individuals to sign a pledge saying they will not engage in risky behavior while behind the wheel.
On November 22 at 6 pm in the Dunn Conference Suite, BSU will be presenting “Our Promise to Adam.” At the event, faculty and students will be educated about the dangers of risky driving as well as hearing from Dr. London at 7 pm. The event is being sponsored by the McADOC Peer Educators, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of the President, the BSU Police Department, Sigma Pi Fraternity, Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority, and SGA.
At the event, organizations will have a table and be able to give a 3-5 minute presentation on a topic of their choice. The brief presentation will include why they chose the topic, how they have adapted to spread awareness in their own lives, and to honor Adam. Some of the presentations include “Dangers of Drunk Driving” by the BSU Police, “How Seatbelts Save Lives” by Sigma Pi, and “Drugged Driving” by Phi Sigma Sigma. Individuals are encouraged to wear orange to the event in support of the campaign.
Max Quinn, a member of the Sigma Pi Fraternity on campus, is one of the individuals planning the event and making awareness on campus.
“I’m expecting a huge turnout,” he said. “I’m hoping for 200 [plus] people.”
Since the beginning of November, there have been info tables set up every week in the RCC, the ECC, and the Tinsley Center giving out information about the event and campaign. At these tables, if a student signed a pledge, they got a “give away” which included wrist bands, window stickers, and car magnets. Students and faculties who attend the event on November 22 will also be handed the give aways.
“After the first week, we had 85 pledges,” Quinn said.
The individuals that have been seen during the past few weeks at the different commuter lots have been counting to see how many students actually wear their seatbelts while driving as part of the campaign at BSU. Quinn said that at the end of the first week in November, the calculation was that 70 percent of students wore seatbelts while driving and 30 percent didn’t. He also shared a story about one student who stopped to ask what they were doing in the parking lot and that student was counted as not wearing his seatbelt.
Quinn talked about how Dr. London doesn’t want the campaign to be completely all about Adam, but use it to spread awareness. He also shared the idea of “Helping a Fellow Bear.”
“We’re trying to establish a support system where if a tragedy did strike, then you know you have a fellow bear to support you through a tough time,” Quinn said. He continued to say that even if BSU students did not know Adam personally, Dr. London is a BSU bear himself and students can understand and relate. “Helping a Fellow Bear” is part of the campaign at BSU to truly raise awareness.
“It’s not ending on November 22,” Quinn said. “It’s an ongoing thing.”
The event information as well as the pledge and other websites about the campaign can be found on the website www.facebook.com/MyPromiseToAdam or www.apromisetoadam.org.
