To the editors:



Re: “Lose the Booze at Tailgate, Says Dean,” news, Sep. 20.

The College administration’s newly-released tailgate policy, “The Rules of the Game: Harvard-Yale 2006,” has the potential to be dangerous. I doubt it is intended to be so, because I sincerely believe the College’s primary concern in this matter is the safety and welfare of the undergraduates. Obviously, when abused, alcohol is a health risk.

We, the undergraduates, definitely need to demonstrate personal responsibility when drinking alcohol. But considerations should be made for those among us—particularly freshmen, who constitute the majority of alcohol-related admits at UHS—whose inexperience with drinking makes hard liquor a dangerous liability. Without ready access to beer at the tailgate, they could “pregame” with hard liquor in private, making strict adherence to the letter of the law a potentially more dangerous alternative to the traditional beer tailgate.

A more practical policy for the future would perhaps permit House Committees and student groups to bring kegs but ban hard liquor. But alas, our cries of reason will probably have little effect. The College has few friends on the other side of the river and can’t afford to alienate Boston authorities when the Allston expansion is getting underway.

We cannot allow our enthusiasm for The Game to be dampened by this policy. We all must go to The Game and cheer for the Harvard football team as they trounce Yale again. We need to move on and work with the administration to make the best of a less than ideal situation. House Committees and student groups have traditionally attracted attendees to their tailgates with alcohol of their own. Without it, we must coordinate efforts with the administration to tackle the usual logistics and devise a large-scale alternative that will still draw big crowds (e.g. Ben Folds could return and sing “Yale Sucks” for three straight hours). More relaxed house events could be held in Cambridge to pump people up for The Game as they did before last year’s pep rally. In the end, the tailgate is about camaraderie. While booze facilitated it in years past, it doesn’t need to be the sole focus of the event. We will have fun regardless.



JONATHAN V. BREWER ’07

September 21, 2006



The writer is co-chair of the Lowell House Committee.