Mandy B. had a lot going for her when she graduated from high school. Bright and talented, she began pre-med studies at Tulane University with a full tuition scholarship and a heart filled with dreams. But she also began her college career with a strong affection for alcohol and cocaine.

"I was in this 'collision environment' for two years," she said. "Bars were open 24 hours a day [in New Orleans], and it was very easy to access drugs and alcohol, as it is on most college campuses. My grades plummeted and I lost all my financial aid. Things finally got so bad I checked into a treatment center when I came home for Thanksgiving break."

While in treatment, Mandy met a young man who told her about a program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, where recovering students who have been clean and sober for one year can get scholarships for college, no matter how low their grades, finances, or lives have fallen. "At first I didn't think he knew what he was talking about. What an absurd idea -- paying drug addicts and alcoholics to go to school!"

But as Mandy and many other recovering students have discovered, Texas Tech's Center for the Study of Addiction is a reality that has changed -- some may even say saved -- their lives.

Carl Andersen, a former Methodist minister, a college professor, and a recovering alcoholic himself, got the idea for the center when he was in treatment 20 years ago. "I met a lot of young people when I was in treatment at Hazelden, and it struck me that most of them were intellectually capable and physically talented, but because of the wreckage of their past they were locked out from going anywhere," Andersen said. "Fifty years ago, most people who came into recovery were 50 or 60 or older. They had drunk their lives away, and for them, recovery was enough. For a 20-year-old, recovery is not enough. I wanted to help young people make the transition from recovery to responsible living."

Although the center began as an accredited school for addiction counselors, it has grown to incorporate a unique "addicts to scholars" program that provides financial aid and a second chance to students recovering from various addictions -- students who would have been passed over by most colleges. Since the inception of the program, only one student out of 600 who have received scholarship aid has flunked out. Even more impressive is the fact that these recovering students maintain a grade point average of 3.58, well above the university-wide average of 2.85, and 95 percent of the participants have stayed clean and sober. An endowed scholarship fund was developed to provide the financial assistance.

Scholarship students can major in anything they want at Texas Tech, and many have become successful doctors, lawyers, executives, and entertainers. Some, like Mandy, enroll in addiction education courses. "It's where my heart is," said Mandy, now a graduate student at Texas Tech with a major in Family Studies.

The center offers about 45 scholarships each semester, but Andersen says that many more students who don't get scholarships find sanctuary and hope in the Texas Tech community of recovering students. New students are mentored by fellow recovering students in the program. They're introduced to others, taken to Twelve Step meetings, and receive guidance from counselors who are knowledgeable about recovery.

Andersen said that while there is no "official" sober housing at Texas Tech, recovering students often share housing and create their own sober living clusters. Each week about 150 gather for the "Celebration" meeting, during which people who have reached recovery landmarks are recognized to mark their achievements.

Andersen views the center as a wonderful opportunity for him to practice the Twelfth Step, the "service step" of Alcoholics Anonymous. Although he recently retired as director of the center, he continues to teach college courses there. He has been honored several times for his pioneering work in recovery and education.

"I've learned a situation is never hopeless," said Mandy. "Don't be afraid to ask for help, and don't be afraid to dream again."

--Published September 23, 2002