Pig roast is my favorite holiday. I mean, the ones at home with family bonding are great, but what other chance does the Richmond campus get to bond? We don't all go to sporting events. D-Hall is segregated into three sections (you all know what that means). And for most of us, Playfair is but a distant memory. But Pig Roast is the one event where nearly the entire campus gets together, dresses up and heads to the lodges to eat, dance and mingle with other students enjoying the festivities. And from what I understand, there was a time when mimosa brunches at the apartments were just a way to wake up before a pre-lodge, campus-wide tailgate on the IM fields. How incredible does that sound? The chance to bump into that person you always see in the Commons and finally learn his or her name, while enjoying the atmosphere of a few thousand students excited for the rest of the day.
When I received the e-mail from the deans freshman year about the banning of the IM fields before the lodges, I didn't think much of it. Pig Roast was still a foreign concept, and I was more excited it was St. Patrick's Day. Sophomore year, when they took away the apartments, I was disappointed, maybe even upset, but I let it go. But the e-mail this year just pissed me off. Cops patrolling the dorms? Shutting down dorm and apartment "events," regardless of the age of those present at said "event?" I'm not writing this as an angry underage drinker, but as an angry student who's been denied the chance to choose how I want to spend my Pig Roast. I want to stop by a friend's apartment, leave together for a campus-wide tailgate on the IM fields and head to the lodges when I need live music and good food. Does it matter if alcohol plays a role in all of that?
Let's face the facts. College kids drink and make stupid decisions. I'm not saying all UR students drink, but some do, and everyone makes poor decisions. Telling students, "If you're caught drinking in dorms or the apartments on Pig Roast, you'll be evicted from the apartments or face severe Judicial Council action," won't encourage us to stop drinking. It will encourage students to drive off campus or pound six shots before leaving the dorms, so they're "sober" on the walk over in case they walk into a cop. Are those stupid decisions? Obviously. We're college students. We love stupid decisions. But I personally believe kids driving back to campus drunk or puking their brains out over the bridge owe part of their ideal situation to e-mails such as the one sent Tuesday.
For the outcry over lack of school spirit we've had this year, I'm surprised the deans aren't embracing Pig Roast with open arms, knowing that vodka is not the only source of spirits on campus that day. Let us have the apartments, give us back the IM fields and let the campus bond. Give us Pig Roast as it used to be.
Oh, and I thought the event was officially titled "Festivus"
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