A 1985 Ohio University alumnus writes about the drinking culture at OU in the 1980s compared to today.
When I entered Ohio University in 1981, many people I knew referred to it as a "party school." But, freshman orientation guides tried to reassure parents that it really wasn't that bad. One in particular gave a detailed history of Halloween, emphasizing that it was not a drunken riot. Since then, I have defended my Alma Mater, arguing that its image is exaggerated due to Athens' small size and the Halloween bash, the only time many out-of-towners ever saw Athens.
But I was disturbed by what I saw during High Fest, which marked my first return to Athens in just over eight years. By mid-afternoon, loud and intoxicated partying was very audible uphill from North Congress Street (where I happened to be at the time). Other streets replicated the trend. Later, I learned that this continued to well past midnight.
For some years now, binge drinking, drunken riots, and incendiaries have occurred on campuses nationwide. I saw none of those things in my time. I blame most of it on the raising of the drinking age, which became a major political issue in the mid 1980s. In 1981, one could purchase low-percentage beer (the famous 3.2%) at age 18. Higher percentage beer and liquor were reserved for the over-21 crowd. The 3.2% law was pretty silly, so in 1982 it was changed so that at 19 one could buy any percentage of beer, hard liquors remaining unavailable until age 21. Those laws were often ignored, though as alcohol increasingly became a politicized issue they were more consistently enforced.
Alcohol was ubiquitous, but the overall tone of our drinking was quieter. Students in dormitories could possess whatever beverage legally available according to their ages, and an under-18 freshman was very rare. Ordinarily drinking was limited to only the rooms. But, with permission, you could have floor-section parties. This invariably involved at least one keg and whatever anyone wanted to bring. It was a great way for incoming freshmen to get to know each other (this describes my first Friday night in Athens), and as a somewhat unsociable loner those activities helped me make my best friends during my time at Ohio U. On other occasions much larger all-dorm parties were held in the lounges, where again beer flowed freely.
Beer was served at the Frontier Room (its original name, though few ever call it anything but the Front Room). Movies were shown there nearly every week, with free excessively salted popcorn designed to boost beverage sales. Spring quarter saw the most action, with its "Green Weekends," open parties (with plenty of beer) on each of the residential greens on successive weekends. Spring quarter culminated with Spring Fest, another on-campus party featuring some well-known but not top-headlining rock band, and again, a profusion of beer.
While we all knew of instances of overindulgence, the only time I saw it expand into public disturbances was Halloween. Any house parties I attended were generally calm, rarely extending beyond the actual house and its grounds. Uptown bars were of course popular, and with the legal age being 18 (later 19) nearly every student could drink at them. I certainly did my share, to excess on a few instances. On one memorable occasion I went to a few uptown bars on a weekday evening (very rare for me) and ended up failing a French quiz the next day (Professor Vines, this was in your class!). But most drinking, for me and my friends, remained fairly calm.
Raising the legal age to 21 changed all this. Uptown bars became inaccessible to most students. Casual beer drinking in the dormitories also fell by the wayside, along with the Green Weekends and Spring Fest. But far from reducing the amount of drinking, the age 21 law (1987) simply drove alcohol off-campus. The calm environment gave way to widespread house parties. As alcohol became harder to obtain, the trends toward overindulgence grew when it did become available. And, hard liquor being equally illegal for those under 21, its prevalence subsequently increased.
I saw this contrast quite clearly during the recent High Fest. The atmosphere was very tense. It reminded me of sailors arriving in port after a few weeks at sea. Still more disturbing was the sight of people carrying realistic replicas of military-style firearms. Don't people realize that this could give an ideal cover for some fanatic with a real gun bent on bloodshed and terror? Very irresponsible.
At 18, people are considered legally adults for almost anything else: marriage, signing legal contracts, military conscription, but are not considered responsible enough to drink beer. The age-21 movement of the mid 1980s has not resulted in less alcohol abuse. The result has rather been the opposite. It does appear that my beloved Ohio University has achieved its reputation as a party school, to its disgrace.
After nearly a century, have Americans not yet learned that Prohibition does not work? Lower the drinking age!
Carl Sobocinski is an Ohio University alumnus from the class of 1985.
