A few weeks ago, I was on a late-night walk with a friend. It was a Friday night, so there were plenty of people going to dorm parties and hailing taxis for off-campus gatherings. As we passed Main Circle, we encountered a group of guys who were absolutely wrecked. There were five or six of them, and not one could walk in a straight line. My friend and I chuckled and continued walking, when suddenly one of the young men collapsed on the sidewalk.
I stopped to see if he needed help, but he slowly got to his feet. His friends asked if he was okay and kept walking, but this guy was clearly not okay. He bent over as if to vomit, and just stayed that way. At this point one of the others said, “Somebody should call NDSP. If we call them and tell them about it ourselves, we won’t get in trouble, right?” The others hesitated, and no one made a move to pull out a phone.
The fact that this student’s friends were more concerned about getting in trouble than helping him is deeply troubling, and what’s worse is that this isn’t uncommon. The drinking culture is a bit out of hand here at Notre Dame, and it doesn’t seem like much is being done to help college students learn how to handle their alcohol (sorry, AlcoholEdu).
I’m not writing this to tell everyone that alcohol is Satan’s way of luring us in. In fact, I can see why so many students choose to drink. We go to a prestigious school with very rigorous academics; every weekday is full of meetings, tutoring sessions, and homework. Once Thursday night rolls around, most students are in need of some stress-relief. The girls switch out their L.L. Bean boots for stilettos and their skinny jeans for LBD’s, while the boys ditch their preppy Vineyard Vines quarter-zips for… slightly less-preppy J-Crew quarter-zips.
Alcohol can also be a wonderful confidence booster. By day, ND students are respectful and afraid to be too forward around the opposite gender, but once they’ve had a few beers they’re talkative, funny, and flirtatious.
Perhaps, the most interesting reason behind the partying that goes on at Notre Dame is this: In high school, many of us were the nerdy kids. We took every AP class, took part in 4,000 extracurriculars, and claimed we were “failing” when we received anything less than an A. Now that we’re in college, the playing field has been leveled. Anyone can be a cool kid, just show up at a party, start drinking, and voila! Fun times ahead.
So, rather than writing a diatribe about the evils of alcohol, I simply want to bring up a few things to think about. First of all, the pregaming here is unreal. Urban Dictionary defines pregaming as “Consuming alcohol in smaller amounts before a bigger drinking event with the intention of easing yourself into a night of crazy fun.” At Notre Dame, pregaming seems to be defined as “Drinking enough to be totally drunk before arriving at an event, and then continuing to drink all night.”
On football weekends, the student section (or at least the freshman section) is a messy mix of sober, buzzed, and blackout drunk. Luckily for me, I always end up in front of those who insist upon chanting, sloppily making out, and screaming to their friends 17 rows away the whole time.
Just this past weekend at the Northwestern game, a group of people were passing around massive beer cans and sharing a water bottle full of vodka. Once they were finished with a can of beer, a guy crumpled the can and threw it toward my friends and me. A girl behind me was all over this poor guy on crutches while drinking some mysteriously golden Coca-Cola.
I couldn’t care less whether other students choose to drink, but when people interfere with my football-watching I get more than a little peeved. The Northwestern game was my roommate’s first (sorry, girl!) and the entire time she had to dodge beer cans, napkins, and humans falling from above. I’m not going to tell anyone how to live their life, but let’s tone it down a bit. Have fun, but be respectful. More importantly, be safe.
Follow the HCND Pinterest account, and remember to keep posted with HCND on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook!