about

Keep Friendship Alive was conceived in 2006 when Erica Upshaw delivered her first presentation on alcohol and drug abuse to 2,000 Greek students at The Ohio State University.  She had no idea this talk would be a defining moment in her life; but after walking off stage she could feel that this was the beginning of something big.  A few years earlier if you had asked Erica which career she might pursue after college, she probably would have ranked “professional speaker” right alongside astronaut or tightrope walker.  Ultimately, she chose to confront her fear of public speaking because she knew that she had a unique opportunity to make a significant positive impact on young peoples’ lives.  Erica now travels the country speaking to high school and college audiences and has reached nearly 100,000 students with her program Keep Friendship Alive.  In 2009 and 2010 she won honors as a top 5 finalist for “Best Speaker”, nominated by college students and administrators in Campus Activities Magazine. She also speaks pro-bono for her college sorority, Delta Gamma.  Erica lives in Laguna Beach, CA.

joey

In 2000, a popular student named Joey Upshaw died at his fraternity during a night of heavy drinking after he ingested a party drug called GHB.  Joey was Erica’s older brother and her best friend.  They were both students at The Ohio State University and both active members in the Greek system- Joey was a Delta Tau Delta and Erica a Delta Gamma.  Erica and Joey hung out in the same crowd and took part in the same social activities.  The way they saw it, they worked hard: tough classes, good grades, leadership roles – hadn’t they earned the right to play hard too?  They frequently spent weekends drinking heavily, mixing “recreational” drugs like pot and sometimes ecstasy and cocaine.  At the time, a new drug GHB had become popular in the party scene even though it was nicknamed the “date rape drug” and was rumored to contain household chemicals.
On April 21, 2000, Joey’s fraternity threw an after hours party.  After lots of drinking at the campus bars, Joey and his friends made their way to the party around midnight.  Shortly after they arrived, Joey drunkenly decided to take a big drink of GHB from a water bottle being passed around.  Erica had said goodnight to Joey at their favorite bar only an hour earlier.  She couldn’t have known this would be the last time she would ever hug her brother or exchange words with him.  She woke up at dawn the next morning to the sound a trembling voice telling her that something terrible had happened.  Joey’s best friend, Erica’s boyfriend, had to tell her that her brother was dead. Apparently a few hours earlier, Joey collapsed and his buddies had put him to bed to “sleep it off”.  Although they checked in on him a few times, they didn’t know what signs to look for.  They didn’t notice the symptoms that should have led them to call 911 immediately.  Nobody blames Joey’s friends for what happened that night.  Most of his friends at the party were drunk or high, completely unprepared and scared of getting in trouble, just as many young people would be in a situation like this.  Lots of bad decisions were made the night Joey died, and looking back, his death could have easily been prevented.

mission

Keep Friendship Alive aims to prevent senseless deaths by educating students on how to party smart, identify and approach a friend with a problem, and most importantly – what to do in an emergency situation.  Erica speaks at colleges and high schools across the country.  JUMP (Joe Upshaw Memorial Project) is a non-profit charity which funds alcohol and drug awareness at The Ohio State University.  JUMP hosts a golf outing every fall in Columbus, OH.  Erica is working hard to bring innovative drug and alcohol education initiatives to schools across the country.  Stay tuned!