“Nobody ever thought in a million years something like this would happen to him,” Upshaw said.

Upshaw, now a professional speaker, shared her story to several hundred people Monday night in the Auditorium as part of the Greeks Stay Strong program hosted by the Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils.

The program is a three-step pledge taken by MSU greek members to learn how to engage in safe party behavior.

MSU’s greek community has suffered at least one death a year from alcohol or drugs during the past few years, Interfraternity Council Vice President of Administration Noah Berger said.

The Greeks Stay Strong pledge intends to prevent further deaths, not just reduce them.

“It’s a program to eliminate to zero the number of drug- and alcohol-related deaths,” Berger said.
“There shouldn’t be any.”

Monday’s event was the second step of the program and aimed to bring a speaker who could relate to MSU greek members and teach them how her brother’s life could have been saved.

Upshaw said her brother was with his fraternity the night he died, but no one was aware of warning signs that would have alerted them something was wrong.

Berger said members pledged to prevent drug- and alcohol-related deaths by supporting the greek community on their respective group’s Facebook page.

In doing that, they agreed to work together for the cause, he said.

Panhellenic Council Vice President of Administration Kristen Maddock said this pledge was the first large effort the greek community has made to address drug- and alcohol-related deaths.

Greek community members also can choose to participate in crisis management simulations offered by Olin Health Center to measure how well they act in typical party situations, Berger said.

Berger said a long-term goal of the pledge is to expand beyond the greek community to all MSU students and connect the program to other universities.

“We want to take a step beforehand to prevent these things,” he said.