About the Jayhawk Buddy System

Staff members tabling at an event outside Watkins Memorial Health Center for Jayhawk Buddy System

Background

The Jayhawk Buddy System is a protective behavior and social norms campaign to reduce the use and misuse of alcohol by KU students. It offers tips and tools for what students should be doing to stay safer whether they choose to drink alcohol or not.

This campaign was designed by a JOUR 640 Strategic Campaigns class in the School of Journalism in Spring 2010. Students in the class spent months researching protective behaviors, assessing KU-specific data and reviewing programs from other institutions across the nation. The Jayhawk Buddy System resulted from their efforts and was implemented in Fall 2010. Originally managed by Student Affairs, the Jayhawk Buddy System was turned over to the Health Education Resource Office in 2015.

Grant funding sustained the program for over a decade. The initial grant was secured from Anheuser-Busch through a partnership with the National Social Norms Institute (housed at the University of Virginia 2006-2016) later renamed the National Social Norms Center (housed at Michigan State University 2016-present). The University of Kansas was fortunate to be one of just ten schools selected to receive this grant funding. Additional grant funding was secured from MillerCoors (now Molson Coors) through a partnership with the International Town & Gown Association.  As all grant funding ended in 2022, thanks to a product partnership between KU Athletics and J. Rieger & Co, a local distillery, the Jayhawk Buddy System was fortunate to receive a portion of sales from KU edition products through 2025.  At this time, the Jayhawk Buddy System is funded by the Health Education Resource Office to ensure this campaign remains a KU tradition in helping keep students safe. 

Key Components

A key component of the campaign is the use of social norms - standards of proper or acceptable behavior. The Social Norms Approach is a research-based approach to behavior change and is based on influence of peer perceptions, inaccuracy of perceptions, correcting perceptions, and adherence to social marketing principles. Incorporating social norms into this campaign allows KU students to have accurate information about the behaviors of their peers.

Protective behaviors are what students should be doing to increase safety! The vast majority of KU students make good choices while out with friends but the intent of the campaign is to provide non-judgmental, practical, proactive action steps to empower them in their decisions.

Long-standing Tradition

In fall 2025, the Jayhawk Buddy System celebrated fifteen years on campus! During this time, significant strides have been made in increasing the use of protective behaviors and reducing negative consequences among KU students. Data is collected on an annual basis so behaviors, trends, progression, etc. can be evaluated. The Jayhawk Buddy System logo and related safety messages are highly visible throughout campus and the Lawrence community today.

Looking Forward

Building upon our solid foundation, the Jayhawk Buddy System will continue to follow guidance from the National Social Norms Center on appropriate messaging, collecting data on behaviors and attitudes to ensure we are meeting students where they are, and strive for more infiltration into the community.