About thirty years ago when I was attending DU, student drinking on campus was a completely different issue: It was not only condoned, but we had a little 3.2% beer pub called “The Draught Board” right there in the student union for faculty, staff, students and their guests.
Many an afternoon I stopped by for a cold glass of beer after classes before heading off to work, or after a long study session in the library. Most often, some of the professors would also be gathered with students. Little informal colloquia would form to relate class material to “the real world”.
The last time I visited campus in the early ’90’s, there seemed to be no opportunity for such informal assemblies.
If you were to ask me what classes stuck out in my mind, I would have to stop and think a while.
If you were to ask me what educational experience stood out, it would be those afternoons when professors and students would debate the ethical meaning of reruns of Star Trek.
After a hockey game, the bar was crowded with fans just coming from the game. Many a romance was furthered in the quiet corners.
Seldom did anyone drink to intoxication. Except for the Greek Row rush parties, intoxication was rarely a problem on campus. We had ready access to alcohol, and yet we drank, for the most part, responsibly. In fact, a hangover was a mark of shame.
In my many years of ministry and teaching, it seems that when something is forbidden, it becomes more exciting. Instead of enjoying a drink as an aspect of companionship and social intercourse, it becomes a solitary focus.
I believe that, if anything, the prohibition of all alcohol to 18-21 year old people has created a greater problem than that which it was intended to solve. Creating stricter laws and regulations will not resolve it, either: If someone is old enough to live independently, to vote, to die in a war, I cannot see that they lack judgment to responsibly drink.
I see the current trend of binge drinking as a symptom of excessive restriction, not a diminishment of the capacity of youth to be responsible. I believe that the way to solve binge drinking is to make alcohol accessible to people old enough to vote, die in war, and live independently in every other respect.
Rev. Bob E. DierkingBA ’77
