Editorial

Author: Editorial Board

Save our Social Lives



You hear a lot about drinking at Middlebury College. In fact, amid all the talk about getting wasted, hammered and trashed you may not have notice that Middlebury students are now drinking on campus far more often than they have in the recent past. No, they aren't drinking more - they are just staying closer to College Street to do it. By allowing of-age students to consume alcohol in designated lounges, effectively permitting small unregistered gatherings in senior suites and keeping upperclassmen on campus in luxe housing, College administrators have recently demonstrated a keen understanding of what it takes to allow Middlebury students to drink as safely as possible. In the college environment, this "they'll do it anyway, so we might as well make it safer" philosophy is smart and is working remarkably well.

Distressingly, State Liquor Investigator Michael G. Davidson's declared intention of forcing the College to modify current procedures for campus party hosting and party registration in accordance with a strict interpretation of Vermont's state alcohol laws guarantees nothing but setbacks for the currently improved alcohol climate on Middlebury's campus. With the number of seniors living off-campus set to rise next year, Davidson's tenure could not begin at a worst time for the College. When regulations crack down on on-campus social life, it won't be long before hundreds of students defect to off-campus parties in search of a freer social climate. Instances of drunk driving are virtually assured to increase. And while upperclassmen - mostly seniors - may find themselves living in spaces large enough to permit them to host illicit unregistered parties and maintain some social balance, it is first-years who are being set up to suffer the most. If registered parties at the social houses and lounges are scaled back, there will not be a whole lot for first-years to do around campus. Nothing like drinking cheap vodka in a cramped Allen Hall double to make for a disastrous, life-threatening situation.

The current "social life" climate of the College is being put in serious jeopardy by Davidson's proposed restrictions. It is essential that the College's social outlets be protected. While there is no clear or easy solution, it may be time to recognize that state law isn't set in stone and do something to change it. Midd-kids will always work and play hard - we might as well play safely.