Nathan Freeman’s more than 300-word sentence describing Tailgate in his Oct. 16 column, “Go to Tailgate,” is telling of something everyone seems intent on ignoring. We should play hard—cathartic release is healthy, probably even necessary given the stress level of most students. The problem isn’t Tailgate. That aforementioned long sentence vividly describes a scene so utterly absurd it has to be fun.
The problem is that we require alcohol to be that ridiculous, that free to live in the moment, that willing to do something without worrying what other people will think. The sad truth is that we Dukies are using booze as a crutch; too scared to put our sober selves out to be judged, we retreat into drunkenness to experience some semblance of freedom.
Now that depressing fact has even me reaching for the bottle.
Jeremy Walch
Pratt ’11
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