For the 19th consecutive year, Kennesaw State University’s Health Promotion and Wellness, housed in theDivision of Student Affairs, has received a grant from the Governor's Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) to participate in the Georgia Young Adult Program (GYAP).

The GYAP uses strategies such as peer education, providing educational speakers to schools, and encouraging schools to develop creative, innovative techniques to reduce young adult crashes, injuries, and fatalities in their communities.

“Innovative projects like this are designed with the intent for Georgia and our nation to reach the realistic goal of zero traffic deaths by the middle of this century,” said Allen Poole, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety. “Each life saved on our roads is one less family that will have to live with the pain of losing a loved one whose life was taken from them in a traffic crash that was completely preventable.”

The GYAP at Kennesaw State coordinates events and programming such as National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week, Safe Fest, and Safe Spring Break.

The grant funds:

• Peer Health Outreach and Wellness Leaders (OWLs) to attend the 2026 GOHS Youth and Young Adult Conference;
• KSU’s participation in the 2026 American College Health Association National College Health Assessment III to learn about students’ health habits and behaviors, including alcohol consumption;
• The creation of a campaign using data from the National College Health Assessment III to promote healthy and responsible choices when it comes to alcohol use and traffic safety issues among students;
• A student assistant to help with planning, implementing, and evaluating programs, designing social media messages, collecting highway safety statistics, and other related activities as needed.

The $28,305.36 grant includes federal funds from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The grant period covers Oct. 1, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.