September 16, 2010

 

Contacts:

Darla Tyler-McSherry, Health Educator, 657-2564
Dan Carter, University Relations, 657-2269

 

MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES —  Just three months before he was to graduate from college, Mark Sterner and four of his fraternity brothers decided to make a trip for spring break. On the final night, they decided the least drunk would drive home.

 

mark Sterner

The next morning, three of the men were dead, and Sterner lay in the hospital, critically injured and facing three felony counts of DUI manslaughter. Because of his role in the tragic death of his three friends, Sterner made a name for himself. Instead of being the first in his family to graduate college, he ended up the first member of his family to go to prison.

 

Sterner will bring his message, “DUI-A Powerful Lesson,” to Billings for a special presentation at Montana State University Billings. He will be speaking on Thursday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. at Petro Theatre on the MSU Billings main campus. The event is free and open to the public.

 

This event is sponsored by HEROES, Associated Students of Montana State University Billings, Yellowjacket Athletics and the Yellowstone County DUI Task Force.

 

In his presentation, Sterner leaves students with a real story that forces them to confront their own decisions. He puts real faces to the tragic consequences of impaired driving by showing videotape the friends made of their trip, ending just moments before the crash.

 

Through his presentation, he helps students realize that the simple choice they make — like drinking and driving — can cause an everlasting impact on their friends, families and themselves.

 

For more information on the presentation, contact Darla Tyler-McSherry, health educator at MSU Billings at 657-2364 or at dtylermcsherry@msubillings.edu.