Students keep quiet on blackout day

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
April 26, 2006

All over campus on April 20, students were not talking. For some, though, the silence was speaking volumes. These students were participating in La Salle’s First Annual Blackout Day, organized by the Intra-Fraternity Sorority Council (IFSC).

Students participating in Blackout Day wore black T-shirts to let others know
they would be refaining from speaking. Photo taken by Sara Allen.

One hundred La Salle students participated in Blackout Day by refraining from speaking to any of their friends throughout the day. Their silence was meant to show what it would be like to lose a friend in a drunk diving accident.

Sophomore Delta Phi Epsilon sister Natesha Wray was one of the participants in the awareness movement.

“We were representing someone who was killed in a car crash by a drunk driver,” she said. “We basically did not exist for a day.”

The participants wore black T- shirts and were provided with note cards to give to professors explaining what the day was about. Still, many students found it difficult to remain silent. Wray said that one of the hardest parts of the day was not being able to respond to people that greeted her.

Ryan Meisser, the president of IFSC, considered the day a success.

“The purpose was to raise awareness about the risk associated with drinking and driving,” he said.

The main event of the day was a presentation during La Salle’s universal free period by Jim and Kaye Brown, whose son Jimmy was severely injured in an accident caused by drunk driving.

“We were looking to have a speaker that would leave a lasting impact on the students,” Meisser said.

Jimmy Brown was a star athlete, participating in soccer, basketball and baseball. Coaches and students described Jimmy as the type of person who would achieve great things. However, one bad decision drastically changed Jimmy’s future.

Mr. Brown stood up to tell Jimmy’s story, his voice still trembling at the thought of the night of the accident. Jimmy and his friend Nick, the driver, were drag racing down Montgomery Avenue when Nick lost control of the vehicle. The car slammed into a steel pole and because Jimmy was over 6’3”, he bore the brunt of the impact.

After telling Jimmy’s story, Mr. Brown played a short movie he made after the accident called The Choice Is Yours: The Jimmy Brown Story.

Throughout the presentation, Jimmy sat onstage in his wheelchair, listening attentively to his father. The accident has left him unable to speak and with limited use of one arm.

The Browns tell their story as a cautionary tale against the dangers of drunk driving. According to Brown, the accident not only changed the course of Jimmy’s life, but also had a “devastating effect” on the lives of everyone around him.

“Jimmy would never drink and drive. But, he put his life in someone else’s hands,” Mr. Brown said.

The driver of the car, Nick, did not suffer the long-term physical trauma Jimmy did, but Mr. Brown pointed out that he will have to live with what happened for the rest of his life.

Wrapping up, Mr. Brown says that while he understands that drinking is “a part of [college] life,” he has learned that such behavior can result in tragedy.

“Drinking and driving is a reality. We need to take the steps as a student body to make sure that it doesn’t happen to one of us,” Meisser said.

According to Meisser, “if one student decides never again to get behind the wheel while intoxicated, or ride with a driver who is under the influence of alcohol, that is a potential life saved, and we cannot ask for anything more than that.”

curleys1@lasalle.edu