Recently, there have been a disturbing number of incidents, some tragic, of bad behavior and even criminal activity on college campuses. No, I'm not referring to politically-related demonstrations regarding various causes. I'm referring to incidents, many of which are alcohol-related.
Alcohol, especially beer, has long been part of the college scene. It's tough, if not impossible, to keep a bunch of college boys away from a barrel of beer. College kids are at the age of transition, still working out the connection between new-found freedoms and responsibility.
Some things, like human nature and human foibles, are unchanging. Other things, like laws, institutions, and accepted behavior are far different than a half century ago.
When I was at University of Wisconsin-Madison during the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was legal to purchase and drink beer at age 18. It was sold at the Student Union and we had tap beer at our fraternity houses, including Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR), of which I was a member.
Wow. That must have been wild - Saturday night fraternity parties with co-ed girl friends, and beer flowing freely.
Well, no - while the parties were enjoyable and welcome relief from stress of tough coursework, it was all really quite tame. Those parties were registered with university authorities and chaperoned by responsible faculty members. For girls, weekend hours were 12:30 a.m., and weekday hours, 10:30 p.m. Maybe it wasn't fair that boys were not subjected to similar restrictions. But it prevented some of the compromising situations we read about today where students get into serious trouble.
Other customs were different, as well. At AGR, our noon and evening meals were structured. For evening meals, Monday through Thursday, coats and ties were required, and table manners emphasized. Dinner was followed by strictly enforced quiet hours, allowing study for those so-inclined. In those days prior to collegiate grade-inflation, one had better be so-inclined in order to get through that mill.
Maybe, because we in Alpha Gamma Rho were mostly farm boys, we overcompensated to prove we were as good as our city brethren and those wealthy, high-powered students from the East who chose Wisconsin as their out-of-state school of choice. Being farm boys didn't make us any more ethical or moral - just more innocent.
Some of us were vets. Being a vet doesn't make one a fountain of wisdom, but it yielded advantages beyond exemption from zero-credit physical education and then-required two years of Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). No thoughts of "homesickness" by 22-year-old college vets with three or four years of military service behind them.
We must have been doing something right. When I review the roster of UW-Madison's Alpha Gamma Rho of those days, the whole bunch became successful community leaders. A majority of us went on for advanced degrees.
College fraternity life at its best can develop "people skills" that serve one well throughout life and career, a far cry from the "animal house" that is depicted in pop culture and, sadly, that may represent reality in too many cases. (I note that today's Alpha Gamma Rho at UW-Madison continues to receive awards for excellence.)
On one occasion during the year in which I was chapter president, pledges from the Iowa State chapter of AGR pulled their annual "prank," deserting their chapter house at ISU, arriving at our chapter house in Madison. We promptly integrated them into our own pledge class, with their Saturday morning pledge duties - and we relieved them of their car keys.
That afternoon, I received a phone call from an angry chapter president at Iowa State. "How terrible to make these pledges work, and take away their car keys."
I explained that we were inviting them to our party that evening where there would be beer, all legal according to University regs, Madison ordinances, and laws of Wisconsin. Our guys were accustomed to it - his were not.
I don't know if my counterpart at Iowa State ever got over it, but I really don't care. We successfully avoided any "worst case scenario" where we would have to explain how out-of-state teenagers staying at our house had beer and later got into a traffic wreck, or worse.
During the mid and late 1960s, a lot of things changed, beyond collegiate grade-inflation that protected marginal students from the draft and duty in Vietnam. Rigid rules regarding women's hours were eliminated. Additional freedoms created additional opportunities for students to get into trouble. While some rules were relaxed, one was, ostensibly anyway, tightened - raising the beer age in Wisconsin to 21, like the rest of the country.
Just because Wisconsin's beer age was 18, did Badgers drink any more beer than students anywhere else? Maybe, only in the minds of Badgers who portray Wisconsin as a "party school." Do Badger students of today drink less beer now that the legal age has been raised to 21 If you answer "yes" to either of these questions, I have a bridge in Brooklyn about which we need to visit.
I see this as an implicitly agreed upon accord. Students still obtain beer. University administrators know they have beer - just keep it under wraps and don't cause trouble. Legislators have taken themselves off the hook, making it illegal. Legislators and university administrators know that we know that they know - just as in the rest of the states where the legal age always was 21.
It's just one of numerous things in society that "is what it is." We're not going to resort to a jack-booted Gestapo to police university dorms and rooming houses. And no legislator will set him/herself up for crucifixion by advocating lower drinking age.
As with much in life, it comes down to responsibility, and whether one learns it, and chooses to exercise it.
Next week: The connection - or lack of it - between freedom, status, and responsibility.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
Alcohol, especially beer, has long been part of the college scene. It's tough, if not impossible, to keep a bunch of college boys away from a barrel of beer. College kids are at the age of transition, still working out the connection between new-found freedoms and responsibility.
Some things, like human nature and human foibles, are unchanging. Other things, like laws, institutions, and accepted behavior are far different than a half century ago.
When I was at University of Wisconsin-Madison during the late 1950s and early 1960s, it was legal to purchase and drink beer at age 18. It was sold at the Student Union and we had tap beer at our fraternity houses, including Alpha Gamma Rho (AGR), of which I was a member.
Wow. That must have been wild - Saturday night fraternity parties with co-ed girl friends, and beer flowing freely.
Well, no - while the parties were enjoyable and welcome relief from stress of tough coursework, it was all really quite tame. Those parties were registered with university authorities and chaperoned by responsible faculty members. For girls, weekend hours were 12:30 a.m., and weekday hours, 10:30 p.m. Maybe it wasn't fair that boys were not subjected to similar restrictions. But it prevented some of the compromising situations we read about today where students get into serious trouble.
Other customs were different, as well. At AGR, our noon and evening meals were structured. For evening meals, Monday through Thursday, coats and ties were required, and table manners emphasized. Dinner was followed by strictly enforced quiet hours, allowing study for those so-inclined. In those days prior to collegiate grade-inflation, one had better be so-inclined in order to get through that mill.
Maybe, because we in Alpha Gamma Rho were mostly farm boys, we overcompensated to prove we were as good as our city brethren and those wealthy, high-powered students from the East who chose Wisconsin as their out-of-state school of choice. Being farm boys didn't make us any more ethical or moral - just more innocent.
Some of us were vets. Being a vet doesn't make one a fountain of wisdom, but it yielded advantages beyond exemption from zero-credit physical education and then-required two years of Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). No thoughts of "homesickness" by 22-year-old college vets with three or four years of military service behind them.
We must have been doing something right. When I review the roster of UW-Madison's Alpha Gamma Rho of those days, the whole bunch became successful community leaders. A majority of us went on for advanced degrees.
College fraternity life at its best can develop "people skills" that serve one well throughout life and career, a far cry from the "animal house" that is depicted in pop culture and, sadly, that may represent reality in too many cases. (I note that today's Alpha Gamma Rho at UW-Madison continues to receive awards for excellence.)
On one occasion during the year in which I was chapter president, pledges from the Iowa State chapter of AGR pulled their annual "prank," deserting their chapter house at ISU, arriving at our chapter house in Madison. We promptly integrated them into our own pledge class, with their Saturday morning pledge duties - and we relieved them of their car keys.
That afternoon, I received a phone call from an angry chapter president at Iowa State. "How terrible to make these pledges work, and take away their car keys."
I explained that we were inviting them to our party that evening where there would be beer, all legal according to University regs, Madison ordinances, and laws of Wisconsin. Our guys were accustomed to it - his were not.
I don't know if my counterpart at Iowa State ever got over it, but I really don't care. We successfully avoided any "worst case scenario" where we would have to explain how out-of-state teenagers staying at our house had beer and later got into a traffic wreck, or worse.
During the mid and late 1960s, a lot of things changed, beyond collegiate grade-inflation that protected marginal students from the draft and duty in Vietnam. Rigid rules regarding women's hours were eliminated. Additional freedoms created additional opportunities for students to get into trouble. While some rules were relaxed, one was, ostensibly anyway, tightened - raising the beer age in Wisconsin to 21, like the rest of the country.
Just because Wisconsin's beer age was 18, did Badgers drink any more beer than students anywhere else? Maybe, only in the minds of Badgers who portray Wisconsin as a "party school." Do Badger students of today drink less beer now that the legal age has been raised to 21 If you answer "yes" to either of these questions, I have a bridge in Brooklyn about which we need to visit.
I see this as an implicitly agreed upon accord. Students still obtain beer. University administrators know they have beer - just keep it under wraps and don't cause trouble. Legislators have taken themselves off the hook, making it illegal. Legislators and university administrators know that we know that they know - just as in the rest of the states where the legal age always was 21.
It's just one of numerous things in society that "is what it is." We're not going to resort to a jack-booted Gestapo to police university dorms and rooming houses. And no legislator will set him/herself up for crucifixion by advocating lower drinking age.
As with much in life, it comes down to responsibility, and whether one learns it, and chooses to exercise it.
Next week: The connection - or lack of it - between freedom, status, and responsibility.
- John Waelti's column appears every Friday in the Times. He can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net.
