PAL
Peer Assistance Leaders

The College of Charleston, Charleston Southern and the City have collaborated on a wonderful and exciting new program.

The program is called PAL (Peer Assistance Leaders).  As stated in our mission, the Peer Assistance Leaders program involves Charleston area college students assisting their peers avoid negative situations involving alcohol and crime. It stems from a desire to prevent peers from being victimized or harmed as a result of engaging in behavior which raises their risk level.

The program began on February 9th, 2008 when 27 students from the College of Charleston, the Citadel and Charleston Southern participated in a three hour Orientation led by Charleston Chief of Police, Gregory Mullen (Photo to the right) and Evie Nadel, Associate Dean of Students.

What do PAL's Do?

The premise is simple: students come together on Friday nights and walk the highly-traversed upper King Street corridor from 10:00 pm until a little after 2:00 am bar closing. The volunteers walk in groups with the assistance of a plain-clothed Charleston Police Officer who walks nearby and a uniformed officer in a Charleston Police car. The students are uniformed in bright yellow jackets with the PAL logo embroidered on the front of the jacket.

All three local news stations covered the first night, February 15th, with an excellent article in the local newspaper, The Post and Courier. The newspaper followed up in the Fall Semester with a front page article on September 21, 2008. The students have received only positive feedback so far from young people who come up and thank them for being out there.

Chief Mullen and Associate Dean Nadel were invited to make a presentation to a large group at Charleston Southern recently where 170 students, faculty and their President heard all about the PAL program and ways they can serve.

The student volunteers have felt very good about their experiences on Friday nights and have had the opportunity to really make a difference for their peers.

Two orientations were held during the Fall 2008 Semester. Twenty-six more volunteers were trained.

Photo on left is the PAL Training held February 9th, 2008.