Dean Emeritus Gerardo Gonzalez recently celebrated the 50th year of Boost Alcohol Consciousness Concerning the Health of University Students at the 2025 NASPA Strategies Conference.

Gonzalez founded BACCHUS as a graduate student with then-Dean of Students Tom Goodale at the University of Florida in 1975. Under their leadership, it grew to become a nationwide peer-led campus alcohol education and prevention organization. In 2014, BACCHUS became an integral part of NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education and today continues to be a major national force for student-led peer education and health promotion efforts within the field of student affairs.

As part of his remarks at the conference, Gonzalez said, “The basic BACCHUS philosophy of using positive peer pressure to promote health and prevent related problems spread and, today, influenced to some extent by that philosophy and supported by NASPA’s Peer Education Initiatives, every U.S. campus provides a variety of peer education programs focusing on alcohol abuse, tobacco, violence prevention, sexual health, safety, physical and mental health, and more.”

Gonzalez also presented the winners of the Goodale and Gonzalez award at the conference, an honor created by NASPA to be awarded to a campus professional for exceptional advising in peer education.