History

 

Swallow This! began in the spring of 1995, when a collaboration arose between Kathleen Flynn-Bisson on the health side and faculty members in the theatre department. Together, they were able to develop a class that used theatre to focus on prevention issues such as drug and alcohol abuse. This was originally a special topics course taught in the theatre department under THR351/352.

With the first group of Swallow This! cast, the plan was to create shows based on substance abuse. It was the original cast that came up with the name Swallow This! because they thought it sounded very intriguing and naughty in a sense, which often catches people’s attention. Their punchline was “Swallow this information before you swallow alcohol or other drugs”. Back then, the cast only covered alcohol and drugs and that followed for the next 10 years. However around 2006, the center for prevention and outreach reorganized and they decided to incorporate peer education not only involving substance abuse, but also rape/sexual violence and depression/suicidality.

Today, even though the cast focuses on a more broad scheme of social issues involving college students, the name Swallow This! has not changed. We continue to use real and anonymous stories which are derived from our database.  

Along the line of the 20-year program, Swallow This! which started as a special topics course, eventually became its own separate course of THR308/309.

Fun Fact: For Swallow This! 10th anniversary we actually got coverage in the New York Times and local media which was a huge breakthrough for the program.  

Swallow THAT!