SUBJECT:

Sun God Festival on RIMAC Field - May 16, 2014

On May 16 nearly 20,000 students will attend the Sun God Festival on RIMAC Field. A UC San Diego tradition for the past thirty-two years, Sun God is one of the best college music festivals in the country. The vast majority of Tritons behave responsibly. Unfortunately, in the last two years we have witnessed a rise in the number and severity of problems associated with excessive alcohol consumption, including hospitalizations and arrests.

Last August, a task force of students, administrators and staff began meeting to address this problem. Working collaboratively, we have launched a number of initiatives designed to ensure the health and safety of our students. Among the most important are:

* Admission to the festival will be limited to currently registered UC San Diego students. Wrist bands will be bar-coded and matched to student PIDs.

* From Thursday evening until Saturday morning, entry to The Village and I-House will be limited to residents of those facilities; entrance to other campus residential facilities will be limited to currently registered UC San Diego students.

* Under the banner "Our Choices, Our Traditions, Our Sun God Festival," a peer-to-peer education campaign has been launched to educate students about the risks of excessive drinking and the importance of behaving responsibly during Sun God.

* Over 500 undergraduates have received risk reduction training and volunteered to help moderate student behavior during Sun God.

These are only a sampling of steps being taken this year. For the full work of the task force, please visit http://vcsa.ucsd.edu/committees/sungod

We believe that these initiatives will allow the Sun God Festival to remain a safe, exciting and memorable part of every student's experience at UC San Diego. If you would like additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at vcsa@ucsd.edu.

Alan Houston Interim Vice Chancellor - Student Affairs Andy Buselt ('14) Associated Students President