Virginia first lady Suzanne Youngkin visited Liberty University Oct. 16 to hold an open conversation with students and faculty about her initiative, “It Only Takes One,” aimed at preventing and raising awareness about fentanyl use in the commonwealth of Virginia.
The Helms School of Government hosted this event for students to promote Youngkin’s student ambassador positions for the initiative. The event also provided a training session that taught students how to administer Naloxone, a nasal mist that can reverse an opioid overdose in addition to medical treatment.
Youngkin explained the significance of her campaign title.
“It takes one pill, one vape, one laced marijuana joint to kill someone,” Youngkin said. “But guess what — it takes one conversation, one caring person to have empathy for his or her friends, peers, community to make a difference.”
She said that since the launch of her initiative, they have seen a 69% reduction in fatal fentanyl deaths in the commonwealth. Youngkin said that when they began, they were losing an average of five Virginians a day to fentanyl overdoses, and now they’re seeing a decline, averaging three a day.
She also shed light on several other resources available for those who are struggling with addiction, including the 988 Lifeline and mobile crisis units that are available throughout Virginia. She encouraged students in attendance to utilize these resources to support themselves or anyone they knew was struggling.
Throughout the event, students had the opportunity to ask questions to Youngkin, as well as Liberty President Dondi Costin, Senior Associate Director of the Office of Community Life Essence Lewis and Associate Dean & Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Amanda Trent.
Senior Lauren Killiany works as deputy chief for the associate dean of the Helms School of Government and helped coordinate this event. She said that she is thankful that government leaders like Youngkin are taking this issue of substance abuse seriously.
“I believe that this topic is important for any student studying any major. … As a Christian, we need to be aware of these topics. … We are supposed to reach the lost and broken, and this is one way that is desperately hurting our world,” Killiany said.
The first lady’s initiative began when her husband, Glenn Youngkin, was elected governor of Virginia in 2021, with the official launch of “It Only Takes One” piloting in Roanoke in 2024, according to the campaign’s website.
Youngkin shared that this campaign came from a difficult personal loss.
“I was very aware that I was being called into a unique position and would have a unique platform for speaking about issues of the heart,” Youngkin said. “I also knew that we were coming off a period where we were grieving the loss of a young friend who had been poisoned by fentanyl.”
Youngkin said that this family friend had bought medication from a friend at college, which he believed to be Percocet. The medication was laced with fentanyl, and he lost his life.
As she grieved the loss alongside his family, she said she began learning about how large the fentanyl crisis had become across the entire state.
“As I traveled around the commonwealth and listened to Virginians, I realized that my situation was not unique, that there were Virginians who had lost friends and family members and who were really struggling to understand what was happening in the space of substance use — and more importantly, with fentanyl,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin said this experience motivated her to become an advocate for change. She said that in 2021, Virginia was losing over 1,500 citizens a year due to fentanyl overdoses.
“That is a lot of loss of life, and I knew it was very, very important that we have those conversations, so I just leaned into the issue, and the more I learned, the more we started talking about it,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin said that she partnered with the Department of Health, Department of Education and Department of Public Safety to make real change.
“The goal would be to have no fentanyl overdose deaths; I mean that would be the epiphany that we had done our job. Unfortunately, drug dealers are very creative,” Youngkin said.
Youngkin said that as dealers create new substance mixtures and inexpensive additives to trick people into addiction, she and her team are constantly looking for ways to combat this.
“I think it is our job, therefore, to just do as much educating and as much talking as we can,” Youngkin said. “To try to bring the realities out from behind the shadows and talk about the real factors that are driving people to experiment with drugs.”
Youngkin said these factors include anxiety, depression, isolation and loneliness. She said that her initiative, “It Only Takes One,” brings these factors to light, gives people resources to make their lives healthier and works to make each situation more optimistic to ultimately prevent substance abuse.
Riden is the on-campus news editor for the Liberty Champion.