CWU/Community Focus On Reducing High-Risk Drinking

October 19, 2004

Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/fax 509-963-2301/e-mail: loweryr@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Central Washington University has appointed Lynne Imamshah to serve as the coordinator of the newly formed Campus Community Coalition, a partnership of university and community members committed to reducing high-risk and underage drinking.

The impetus for the coalition occurred when CWU President Jerilyn S. McIntyre was selected to serve on the Presidents Leadership Group (PLG) of the U.S. Department of Education's Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention.

The PLG is comprised of presidents and chancellors who have made student substance-abuse prevention a priority on their campuses. McIntyre put her commitment into action by hosting a meeting last March involving university administrators and city officials, including the mayor and other members of the Ellensburg City Council. As an outgrowth of that initial meeting, the Campus Community Coalition was formed.

"Research supports a comprehensive approach in which university representatives collaborate with local elected officials, law enforcement, community prevention groups, public school employees and alcohol retailers to solve this important national problem," McIntyre says. "At Central, we take our commitment to provide a safe and healthy campus environment for our students very seriously. This includes doing everything we can to prevent high-risk alcohol and drug use."

For the past five years, Imamshah has served as an academic advisor in the CWU student support services program. She is also vice chair of the Kittitas County Alcohol/Substance Abuse Advisory Board, member of the Ellensburg Downtown Task Force and has participated on the Ellensburg Downtown Association.

Last May, she was inducted into the CWU chapter of Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society, in recognition of her contributions to the university and the community. This month she joins the Leadership Ellensburg class of 2005 and looks forward to gaining knowledge, insights, and stronger community connections through that experience.

"I believe in giving back to my community," Imamshah notes, "and I know that a strong campus community coalition will have immeasurable benefits for all of us. I look forward to working with partners from the community and the university in achieving the coalition's goals."

Imamshah reports to Gail Farmer, director of the Wildcat Wellness Center, who says, "Lynne is particularly well qualified for this position because of her academic credentials, her professional and community service experience, and her knowledge of the issues of underage and high risk-drinking."

Imamshah holds a master's degree in guidance and counseling from Trinity College in Washington, D.C., and a bachelor's degree in sociology from Emmanuel College in Boston.

For 15 years prior to coming to CWU, she was a counselor, disability support services director and alumni relations director at Montgomery College in Rockville, Md. She moved to Ellensburg in 1997.

McIntyre says, "We look forward to Lynne's leadership and to the benefits our coalition will achieve."