Ohio U students are changing the party culture narrative

Ohio University is infamous for its party school status, but in recent years Ohio U has been bumped from top of the charts. Forty years ago, Ohio U provided alcohol for student events, now students are leading the movement to sober alternatives.

The drinking culture has changed since 1980, when the drinking age was 19 years old and most students were legally allowed to imbibe. For example, in April 1982, Ohio U sponsored a big beach bash party in Bird Arena, and used the money from beer sales to sponsor the Spring Music Festival. 

In 1984, the National Minimum Drinking Age Drinking Act was passed by Congress, which raised the national drinking age to 21 years old. The act was passed after the federal government tried to bring down the percentage of drunk-driving fatalities.  

Flashforward to 2022, the party school legacy still lives on, but there are those who are actively trying to dispel the current portrayal of Ohio U by providing sober alternatives to partying for bobcats. University Life Commissioner Clay Lewis is one of the students fighting for more clear-headed options.

“There isn’t anything that we have on a regular basis to really make sure that we are helping convert this culture change into something where it’s more of a sober living-type situation,” Lewis said.

In an effort made by Ohio U to promote individual safety and educate students about the use of alcohol within this culture, The Office of Health Promotion has adopted a new initiative called Green Dot. “The Office of Health Promotion is all about creating proactive interventions to lessen harm on our campus,” said Associate Director for Prevention and Education for The Office of Health and Promotion Ann Brandon. The Green Dot initiative aims at building individual knowledge and skills that could lessen harm related to alcohol use and prevent interpersonal violence, according to its website. 

Besides arts and craft night and the occasional sporting event, there are currently few sober activities that occur on a regular basis, especially when the weather is cold. While there are plenty of activities off campus, most students do not have the luxury of having a car on campus.

“There are plenty of opportunities here at Ohio U outside of just partying. No one comes to the school for the sole reason to party. This is a place to get your education, not to go wild for four years,” Lewis said.

One of these opportunities taking place is the Bobcat Festival. In February Student Senate voted on a resolution, led by Lewis, to acquire space and supplies for the event. The festival was held in Walter Fieldhouse with a projected cost of $4,329.68.

“This event is just something for people who want to feel included to be able to come out. Because there is quite a large population on this campus that don’t go to the bars, especially on weekends and the effect is that many can feel left out,” Lewis said.

The festival featured a range of activities, including billiards, mini-golf, giant Jenga and a large inflatable blow up for tug of war and jousting. Snacks were provided as well as a drawing every hour where students could enter their name into a raffle to win prizes like an Echo Dot or a Chipotle gift certificate. 

“There are a lot of reasons to come to this, and so part of the hope is by doing this is that we’re making this more an inclusive environment for everybody,” Lewis said.

The event attracted just a small number of students, most of whom appeared to have brought their moms. The festival was mainly advertised to students on social media and by fliers hung up across campus. The event was originally set to be held at an earlier date, but was moved to Saturday April 1 to coincide with Mom’s Weekend. 

Hannah Mielcarek, a sophomore at Ohio U attended the event with her mom after seeing a flier hung up in the Living Learning Center. 

“There is nothing really to do when the weather is crappy out, so it's always nice when the school plans fun things like this to do,” Mielcarek said as she played miniature golf.

While the turnout was small, Lewis is hoping that Bobcat Festival will be the first of many sober alternative events to take place in the near future on campus.

“Honestly, as of right now there’s not that many fun options and that needs to change. We have a culture here beginning to change and I think we could be creating more events,” Lewis said.