By Daniel Chavkin
Staff writer
In April, this university announced its plans to research the possibility of selling alcoholic drinks at sporting events. In an email to the community, Vice President of Student Affairs Linda Clement stated that the university would conduct research to present in conjunction with Dining Services and Intercollegiate Athletics staff.
They want to limit sales to just beer and wine, and plan to halt sales halfway three-quarters of the way through the event.
In the past month, university President Wallace Loh has been seeking feedback from students. Some students are skeptical about the proposal.
“I don’t think adding alcohol [to sporting events] would be a good idea,” senior linguistics major Jacob Sacks said. “I think the games would get way too rowdy, and the fans already get pretty rowdy.”
Freshman computer science major Kevin Schechter’s perception of college events would change if this proposal is passed.
“I went to a few games when I was a little kid, and the college stadium was always more kid-friendly than pro stadiums,” Schechter said. “Not selling alcohol may have had something to do with that.”
On the other hand, freshman electrical engineering major Mike Fjeldel likes the idea of having alcoholic options at games.
“There’s a good majority of adults and students who can drink alcohol who go to the games,” he said. “Sometimes people try to sneak in alcohol in small bottles, so this would eliminate it to some extent.”
In addition to alcohol sales, Clement explained that they would look into using the money for athletics and student support activities, like “counseling and mental health services, wellness programming, responsible drinking initiatives and diversity training.”
Schechter does question this as well, calling it “a bit hypocritical.” However, he did admit that if he had “an idea of how effective it would be,” he would be more supportive.
Sacks had a similar opinion as Schechter.
“That would definitely help,” he said, “but I’m still somewhat skeptical.”
Once again, Fjeldel has a different take and approved of this initiative.
“[It’s] a good use of the money,” he said.
