who host popular “Love and Liquor” educational sessions for all the incoming students, and we introduce the science behind Spit for Science at those sessions, so students understand what the project is about and have a chance to get to know the research team. In all my talks, I emphasize that Spit for Science is their project. I emphasize both what we’re studying (substance use, mental health, and well-being) and why it’s important: the fact that approximately 1 in 4 individuals over the age of 18 are affected (Kessler et al., 2005); hence, these are challenges that affect all of us, whether it’s personally, or through a family member, friend, neighbor, or colleague. Further, these challenges are the biggest health challenges in their age group (Kessler et al., 2007), and I emphasize that it is only by working together that we can change that. Our emphasis on the broader issues of substance use and mental health challenges in our outreach efforts, rather than focusing more narrowly on problems associated with college student substance use, was intentional and based on conversations with our Wellness Center staff, who raised the excellent point that we want to ensure that our students understand that
