Although Joe College Day this past Saturday was an overall success, I was shocked and disappointed that open containers were not allowed on the Main West Quad. It mystified me that on every other day, we can sit out on main quad, relaxing with a drink, but on Joe College Day, one of the most ideal days of the year to do this, we couldn’t.
Instead, those over 21 were penned into a tiny area (with what looked like the same picket fences that were used for Pets on the Quad), and forced to stay there while they drank. As a 21-year-old senior, I appreciated the free beer, but the beer garden separated 21-year-olds from our underage friends and kept us far from the music.
Though the new regulation was probably intended to discourage underage drinking, what really happened was that those who were underage just went off the main quad to drink. Seniors, in turn, drank quicker, so they could return to underage friends and the music. The new alcohol regulations made Saturday’s drinking hurried and clandestine rather than open, relaxed and connected with enjoying the concerts.
I am not promoting a drunken bacchanalia on the main quad, but the mood of Joe College Day was negatively affected by the new regulations. The quad was emptier than it’s been for past Joe College days—over and over again, I watched groups of people coming to hang out, but leaving as soon as they were told they could not drink on the quad. The new policy was also a surprise for most students, as there was little communication about it in advance of the event.
I hope that these new rules, which were established without feedback from the general student body, will not be continued for events to come.
Tracy Gold
Trinity ’10
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