Galloway, N.J. – Colin Wojciechowski, a junior from Marlton majoring in Marine Biology at Stockton University, has been named the 2024 HERO of the Year by the John R. Elliott HERO Campaign for Designated Drivers. 

The annual award honors a Stockton student who embodies great responsibility through designated driving. 

“The award itself is to highlight the importance of having a designated driver instead of drunk driving, and I would happily pick up any of my friends who ask me for a ride rather than let them risk their lives and potentially endanger everyone else to drive drunk themselves,” said Wojciechowski, who was nominated by seven of his peers.

The HERO Campaign is named after Ensign John R. Elliott, an Egg Harbor Township native and U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was hit and killed by a drunk driver on his way home for his mother's birthday in 2000. That same year, his family founded the John R. Elliott Foundation and the HERO Campaign. 

Wojciechowski will be featured on signage around campus and on a billboard on the Atlantic City Expressway promoting the HERO Campaign.

“This award means a lot to me since I have known people personally who have been victims of drunk drivers,” Wojciechowski said, holding a large poster stating “Be Like Colin. Be A Designated Driver.”

Elliott’s father and founder of the Campaign, Bill, congratulated Wojciechowski and the two other Stockton students recognized for their efforts to support designated driving: first runner-up Olivia Thoms of Absecon and second runner-up Sarah Goodrich of Hammonton.

The HERO Campaign is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting designated drivers to prevent drunk driving tragedies. The attributes of a designated driver include being a hero by guaranteeing the safety of those on the road. The program urges people to designate a sober driver before drinking to limit the number of alcohol-related accidents and deaths. The campaign frequently works with law enforcement, schools and communities to raise awareness and encourage responsible drinking behaviors.

Since 2010, Stockton has partnered with the HERO Campaign on the HERO of the Year program and the HERO Games on campus, in which members of the university’s Greek organizations compete and raise awareness of the campaign. 

More information about the Hero Campaign is available at HEROCampaign.org.