Longtime DU Supporter Expands Efforts to Help Students
University takes extremely rare step of creating an endowed director position
It’s a difficult challenge that all college campuses face: how to help students struggling with alcohol and substance abuse and prevent it from happening in the first place. It’s this challenge that led Denver resident Marilyn Girouard to become closely involved with DU’s Health and Counseling Center and its alcohol and drug prevention efforts.
Girouard’s son, Louis Richard Girouard III, worked for some years treating young people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction. He died in 2004, at the age of 39. Girouard wanted to continue her son’s work and honor him at the same time. She began making annual contributions to DU that went toward alcohol and substance abuse education.
“She really enjoys hearing about what the students are engaging in,” says Sarah Belstock, the center’s director of health promotion. “The funding she has provided for many years allows us to expand the scope and impact of alcohol-prevention programs.” In addition to educational programs and campaigns, the Health and Counseling Center helps fund substance-free social events that are hosted by student groups, including fraternities and sororities.