Founder's Note

The launch of our awareness campaign at the University of Oklahoma marks another meaningful step in HarborPath’s work to protect young lives from the growing overdose crisis.

Last year, we saw how powerful peer-to-peer communication can be through our pilot campaign at the University of Mississippi. This fall, we are expanding this program to Oklahoma, where student-athletes are using their platforms to speak directly to their fellow students about the dangers of fentanyl and the importance of knowing how to use naloxone.

These conversations matter. When student leaders talk about overdose prevention, they break through stigma and spark the kind of awareness that leads to action.

This work wouldn’t be possible without our partners at OU, Sooner Sports Properties, and the Goddard Health Center, as well as the donors whose generosity made this campaign possible. Together, we’re building a model for how campuses can protect their students and communities through education, empathy and access.

-Ken Trogdon, President of HarborPath

HarborPath Partners with OU Athletes to Combat Fentanyl Crisis

HarborPath has partnered with student-athletes from the University of Oklahoma to launch a campuswide campaign promoting overdose awareness and free naloxone access.

Through a Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) partnership facilitated by Sooner Sports Properties and 1Oklahoma, OU football freshman Danny Okoye and soccer junior Ashley Tutas are leading the conversation about overdose prevention. Their video messages, shared across social media platforms, encourage students to pick up free naloxone from OU’s Goddard Health Center, which provides the medication to anyone in the university community.

“Being part of this campaign gives me the chance to use my platform to protect my fellow students,” said Danny Okoye. “If sharing this message helps even one person avoid an overdose, it’s worth it.”

The effort builds on HarborPath’s 2024 campaign at the University of Mississippi, where six student-athletes helped increase student awareness and access to naloxone. Both initiatives reflect HarborPath’s mission to make life-saving medications accessible to those who need them most — and to empower young people to protect each other.

We encourage you to watch the campaign launch video, available at this link.

Learn more about the OU campaign at harborpath.org/OU.

Ken's Take: The launch at OU is a glimpse of what’s possible when awareness, access, and student leadership come together.

Every conversation about naloxone helps chip away at the stigma surrounding overdose prevention. And when that message comes from peers, it resonates in a way that statistics and headlines never could.

At HarborPath, we’re continuing to explore partnerships with universities across the country to expand this model and reach more students. Our partnership with FFF Enterprises provides another layer of efficiency to ensure our partners have naloxone in place to get to students and staff.

The goal is simple: make life-saving overdose prevention a normal part of campus life.

News You Need to Know About the Fentanyl Crisis

• The Guardian: In Alaska, where overdose deaths are rising again, Narcan and community are a lifeline
• Fox 5 Atlanta: Paramedics reporting increase of Narcan usage
• Dubuque Telegraph Herald: After one year with Narcan vending machines, law enforcement statistics show reduced overdose hospitalizations, deaths
• BBC: Meet the Americans coming back from fentanyl addiction

Help us make a difference by providing lifesaving drugs to those in need.

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