The Center for Students in Recovery (CSR) provides a community where UT Dallas students can find the safe support they need to thrive in school while living in recovery. CSR’s all-inclusive program helps students who struggle with substance use, disorders and other addictions. CSR also helps those who are affected by addiction or individuals questioning or exploring the impact of potential addictive behaviors.

The program offers a safe space for students to receive one-on-one support with a licensed professional, attend recovery meetings, participate in sober social activities, be part of a supportive community of peers and volunteer in a variety of service opportunities.  

Established in 2014, CSR has grown from a place that few knew existed to a peer-led safe haven in the new student services building on campus. This center makes a life-changing difference for students, many of whom would not be able to complete their college degrees without this support.

Unfortunately, CSR now faces a budget cut that will threaten the longevity of the program.

That’s where you come in! Your support this end of year will help ensure CSR continues to support students who turn to the center for a safe space.

 Student Testimonies

“I first walked into the Center for Students in Recovery in the spring of 2016. I was scared, struggling, and 500 miles away from anyone I knew.

The CSR has become a home away from home for me. It is my safe haven on campus for days when I need to cry or vent or just need a friendly smile to help get me through the day. Having been with the CSR since it was hidden in a building way back in the phase 1 apartment complex, and being able to see it become a prominent place on campus with a beautiful new home in the SSA has been one of the highlights of my college career.

As I graduate this semester and leave the CSR, I hope that it continues to flourish and to reach even more people and help them in the same way it has helped me.” – Alyssa  

“I passed by the Center for Students in Recovery countless times before finally working up the courage to step through those doors for the first time. I was so afraid that my struggle would be minimized again, that I would be judged for taking up space meant for those who were “truly” sick.

When I finally did open that door those fears entirely melted away as I was hit with a wave of love and acceptance and community. Everyone in the center took me in without reservation or hesitation.

CSR helped me find a nutritionist, psychiatrist, therapist and so much more.

They saw me through breakups, assaults, failure, success, relapse and recovery. They gave me a space where I could put myself back together, the resources needed to get back on my feet and the community needed to stay standing. I entered that semester convinced that anorexia and dysphoria were going to knock me out of school, and I finished it with better grades than any previous semester.

I’m graduating in a few weeks, after which I will pursue a career in social work, and CSR is responsible for both. This community taught me how to stay alive and gave me a purpose to pursue.

I am so deeply grateful that a space like this exists, and I hope it can continue to be a space of warmth and love for any student who works up the courage to open those doors for their first time.” -- Estelle