Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 7 p.m., Carroll College Campus Center. Open to the Helena Community.
HELENA – On what would have been Carroll College student Bridget Kirby’s 21st birthday, Carroll is hosting a keynote speaker to talk about the tragic impacts of substance abuse and drunk driving.
As part of its OkSoberFest events, Carroll College is hosting keynote speaker and mental health advocate Ethan Fisher to speak about the devastating consequences of mental health stigma and substance abuse while spreading a message of accountability and self-care.
This event has been planned with the encouragement of Patrick and Maureen Kirby, whose daughter Bridget was a Carroll College sophomore when she was tragically killed in November of 2021 in a drunk-driving accident in Helena.
A former student-athlete, Ethan Fisher, who killed a person in a drunk-driving accident, will be giving a presentation titled, “Life CONsequences: A Tale of Redemption, Choices and Decision” using his life experiences to challenge, motivate, and inspire his audience.
This event is open to both the Carroll community as well as the greater Helena community including high school students and their families.
Carroll College’s OkSoberFest events include a week's worth of programming revolving around alcohol education and alcohol-free activities. Events for the week include educational presentations on responsible drinking, recognizing alcohol poisoning, mock sobriety testing with goggles that simulate different blood alcohol levels, and more. In addition, many alcohol-free events are planned for OkSoberFest including a tailgate before the 10/22 and 10/29 Carroll football games, a self-defense class, Halloween dance, and late night scary movie at the Cinemark after the Halloween dance. The events are sponsored by Student Activities, ASCC, CSA, Res Life and Housing in cooperation with Carroll's Campus Security and Public Safety office and the Lewis and Clark DUI Task Force.
About Ethan Fisher
Keynote speaker and mental health advocate Ethan Fisher draws from his life experience to challenge, motivate, and inspire his audiences. From star high school athlete, to prison inmate, to the recipient of an MBA with honors, Ethan’s life is a lesson in accountability, passion and perseverance.
Growing up in a family that did not speak openly about mental health, Ethan spent his teenage years secretly battling clinical depression while he publicly received accolades for his uncommon talent on the basketball court. He began to self-medicate, leading to a years-long battle with alcoholism and substance abuse that derailed his basketball career and ended in a 3-year prison sentence.
Sober since 2004, Ethan went on to become the first athlete in Colorado to play college basketball on inmate status and was recognized as an All-Conference and Most Valuable Player (MVP). He graduated summa cum laude, was awarded the entrepreneurship student of the year award and was the recipient of the President's award.
Ethan’s experiences became a catalyst for his devotion to inspiring others. He has spoken in hundreds of cities, motivating and engaging almost 100,000 audience members to take hold of their lives and pursue their dreams. A raw and passionate speaker, Ethan captivates audiences with his story of adversity and his techniques for channeling desire into purposeful action.
A staunch mental health and substance abuse advocate, Ethan is the founder of non-profit to support education and prevention for students and student-athletes. He has been featured in a best-selling book, and interviewed for other books, newspaper articles, and numerous podcast, radio and television shows.
Testimonials
“Ethan Fisher's message of love, forgiveness, responsibility and second chances is a message that every high school and college age student should hear. Ethan has changed my life. And he will change yours if you hear his story.” ~ Tommy Spaulding, New York Times national bestselling author of The Heart-Led Leader and It's Not Just Who You Know
“I'm surrounded with a lot of partying, alcohol, and drug use being at a university. Listening to Ethan Fisher's story made me more aware of life changing consequences that can happen if you abuse those things.” ~ University student