UWG
News Item
Contact: University Communications & Marketing
Phone (678) 839-6464, FAX (678) 839-6645
ucm@westga.edu
DUI Program
February 27, 2004
CARROLLTON, GA - Audience members don’t move a muscle as he walks across the stage. The only sound is that of his leg shackles echoing in the room.
Students and staff of the University of West Georgia will have the opportunity to hear Chris Sandy, a unique speaker dressed in his white prison uniform with his hands shackled to his waist, when he speaks on Wednesday, March 10 at 2 p.m. in the lower level of the Food Service Building.
Sandy was an ordinary 25-year-old, who made a mistake and is now paying for it with a 30-year prison sentence for DUI and vehicular homicide. In a joint project of the Department of Corrections, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and Chad Foster with ESPN, Sandy was taught public speaking skills and now shares his tragic story with other young adults.
Thanks to a grant funded by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, Sandy is able to speak to all county and city high schools in the area. Sandy is speaking at UWG as part of Health and Safety Week.
“His story has been experienced by thousands across the United States, but I doubt that anyone in his position has been able to translate the pain, agony and grief as well as Chris did to our group of students,” said Elise Lander, teacher at The Galloway School in Atlanta.
A question and answer session will be held at the end of Sandy’s speech, but he is allowed no interviews with the media. For more information, contact Jill Hendricks, health education coordinator, at 770-836-6452.
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