What:          North Texas Rally for Recovery, sponsored by University of North Texas

                    Department of Rehabilitation and Health Services and the Association of

                    Persons Affected by Addiction, a nonprofit organization in Dallas

When:          Noon-3 p.m. Oct. 14 (Saturday)

Where:         Mall in front of UNT's Willis Library, 1506 W. Highland St.

Cost:            Free

DENTON (UNT), Texas - An estimated 37 percent of college students have participated in binge drinking, and nearly 1 million students meet standard clinical criteria for addiction to alcohol and other substances, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Data Archive, an initiative of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The North Texas Rally for Recovery at the University of North Texas Oct. 14 (Saturday) will increase awareness and understanding of substance use and mental health issues of college and university students, and also awareness of the recovery movement on campuses, which at UNT has included the Collegiate Recovery Program for the past four years.

The rally begins at noon on the mall outside of UNT's Willis Library, which is located at 1506 W. Highland St. Recovery programs or recovery advocates from North Central Texas College, Texas Woman's University and the University of Texas at Dallas; UNT offices and programs that provide resources for substance misuse prevention and 15 community-based substance misuse treatment centers will have information booths. Each vendor's booth will have a carnival game such as a bean bag toss, drunk goggles, prize wheels, stress tests and trivia games.

Former National Football League wide receiver Trent Shelton, founder and president of the nonprofit organization RehabTime, will be the keynote speaker at 1:30 p.m. Shelton was signed by the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent in 2007 and also played for the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Redskins. In 2009, after being cut by two teams and turning to drugs as an outlet for his depression, Shelton began making two-minute motivational videos for himself. He ended each video by saying "It's RehabTime."

UNT President Neal Smatresk and chancellors of North Central Texas College and Texas Woman's University also are scheduled to speak.

The rally will end with participants marching to UNT's Apogee Stadium. The UNT Collegiate Recovery Program will offer sober tailgating activities in collaboration with UNT's Substance Abuse Resource Center and Meadows Center for Health Resources before the 6 p.m. UNT football game against the University of Texas at San Antonio.

For more information, contact Amy Trail, director of the Collegiate Recovery Program, at 940-369-5343 or amy.trail@unt.edu.