I was initially unimpressed with the idea of Senior Mug Night. It sounds reasonable at first, to gather as many seniors as possible in our on-campus bar, The Levee, and offering the chance to buy some mystical mug which will grant you perks like one-dollar drafts and other drink specials later in the year. However, a closer inspection shows some cracks in the plan.
First off, most of the seniors I know live at the beach and wouldn’t be interested in drinking here, then having to go home. Second, you don’t even get the mug until sometime later, making that ten dollars seem wasted. I finally decided to go because a housemate of mine works as a bartender there and knew there wasn’t anything else to do last Thursday on campus.
I went, with another housemate, at about 8:30, a few drinks deep. I wasn’t expecting many people to be there but was pleasantly surprised. See, for all the years I’ve been here at Fairfield, The Levee has kind of been to The Grape what the Mets are to the Yankees. Both are relatively entertaining, but you wouldn’t go to Shea Stadium unless the tickets were free. I had only been to The Levee once before since turning 21 and I was one of about ten people there (but when the booze dries up at the townhouses, you have to go somewhere). Anyway, when I got there last week, I saw at least 20 people I knew, which was a shock.
Even though the mugs were not yet available, there were dollar drafts all night plus they gave out free beer tickets at the door. After downing several, I noticed that the bar was really filling up. By the time last call rolled around, the bar was packed, which I didn’t think I’d ever see. I found out there was a shuttle bus running from campus down to the beach, which encouraged several of my friends from there to come. I thought this was a great idea and would certainly generate more business at The Levee in the future. They also let us drink on the porch area when we wanted fresh air, which was much more convenient than being stuck inside. Unfortunately, I think both these bonuses were unique for Mug Night since they knew everyone there would be of age.
All in all, I ended up spending merely six dollars on drinks (beyond the mug pre-purchase), and spending some good time with people from my class. It seems like a Fairfield tradition gets the axe every year I’ve been here, from Clam Jam (an insane party at the beach) to football and hockey, and now Keg Races. I think if students are willing, they will find some new traditions to latch onto in their time here. I was told by a coordinator at the event that at least twice as many mugs were sold this year as last. Hopefully in the future, this will cause more students to get involved and look forward to events like Senior Mug Night, not face them with trepidation as I did.
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