Mind Altering Lecture!

Each semester, the Chabad House Jewish Student Center sponsors a program which brings a Chabad alum back to Binghamton and highlights their particular field of achievement or contribution in a way that is meaningful, instructive or entertaining to current students. On November 5, Chabad House, in conjunction with the office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Binghamton University, sponsored a lecture titled: Binge Drinking: When Too Much is Too Much, which was presented by Daniel Tratt. Close to four hundred students packed the Mandela Room and sat riveted as Daniel related his very personal and sobering story. Daniel addressed themes such as peer pressure and the need to understand that drinking does not have to be the focal point of socializing. He asked students to help their peers if they see warning signs and not to ignore warning signs in their own life, like he did when he was younger. Daniel was a hard working yet fun loving student at BU - very involved and popular. In fact, he was voted in as fraternity president because he was deemed
"responsible." Unfortunately, he also had a drinking problem that only worsened with the increased freedom he found in college life. On May 12, 1999, after going out to drink in celebration of having completed all of his finals, Daniel returned to his Frat house, where while running up the stairs, he fell over a railing and dropped 23 feet from the fourth to the second story landing. Daniel sustained terrible injuries to his brain and suffered a crushed spine. While his life was miraculously spared he remains paralyzed from the chest down. "The room was silent; you could hear the proverbial pin drop when Danny spoke," said Rivkah Slonim. "His message was soul piercing in its stark truth and simplicity: your whole life can change in one minute and it is avoidable through acting responsibly. Few programs have had this kind of impact!"

Daniel sent a strong message about overcoming adversity when he spoke of his months of rehabilitation. Today, Daniel who completed his undergraduate course work in '02 and earned his Masters of Education at Mercy College, teaches Science at the Christopher Columbus High School in the Bronx where he is also the academic coach to the Football team. Additionally Daniel is
currently earning his MBA at Pace University.