Best Buddies kicked off the year in true Greek style.
Vanderbilt Student Government co-sponsored Friday night’s toga party, which was hosted by Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. The buddies — adults with intellectual disabilities who are paired with student volunteers — and their partners made togas, played games, ate pizza and listened to live music provided by the Taylor Gerber Band. Admission was free, but donations to support the Best Buddies spring break program were encouraged.
Best Buddies is a student organization that strives to enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships.
“Our main goal for this event (was) to provide our buddies with the best possible night by giving them a taste of what ‘real’ college social life is like,” said Best Buddies President Zach Heath.
VSG President Wyatt Smith hoped the party would be a campus-wide event to help the buddies get a feel for what it’s like to be a student.
“It’s a really inclusive event for the whole community to help the adults with mental handicaps have a great experience,” Smith said.
The party also helped generate momentum for the launch of Next Step, a post-secondary education program for adults with intellectual disabilities that will start this spring.
“Next Step is a program that will bring those adults with mental handicaps onto Vanderbilt’s campus as contingent students,” Smith said. “They’ll be interacting with other students in class and working on other life skills.”
While there is no official connection between Best Buddies and Next Step, Heath says that their similar missions and goals make them a natural match.
Vanderbilt’s Best Buddies chapter is one of the best in the country, leading the nation with programs like Next Step and spring break trips. Heath pointed out that Vanderbilt’s Best Buddies is the only chapter in the country to offer a spring break program.
“We hope that through raised awareness of adults with intellectual disabilities we can increase our school’s student participation in both our chapter and these spring break opportunities,” said Heath, adding that the party was a great success.
Sara Gast contributed reporting to this story.
Clarification: The program referred to as "Next Steps" in the Oct. 12 edition has been changed by the editors to "Next Step," which will be its name when it debuts.
