Some would call it a drunk bus. Others would call it a viable and safe means for students to return to campus from the beach. Whichever jargon you prefer, the fact still remains that something must be done to ensure the safety of all Fairfield students.
The administration cannot ignore the fact that this campus, and the University community as a whole, is far from dry. Dean of Students Tom Pellegrino recognizes this but refuses to accept that students are not free to make the right decision.
“A hallmark of a liberal education is that students are given the freedom to explore, learn and to reach conclusions on their own,” he said. “Equally important, students are (or should be) trusted enough to exercise that freedom appropriately without undue intervention or restraint. Mistakes will be made, and when they are, education steps in.”
Education, in my opinion, does not step in at all but rather steps to the side. This University should be concerned with preventing incidents, not waiting until they occur before taking action.
This is where the discussion begins. The administration does not want to adhere to the norms of other colleges such as Providence College, which offers late-night transportation service to students. I am not asking the administration to cater to students, but I am asking its members to recognize that compromise is a viable option.
FUSA President Hutch Williams ’08 has made it a priority to provide beach transportation to seniors who wish to return to campus without having to worry about driving. This, he said, took place on Friday night when a bus was present in Veterans Park for the purpose of picking up seniors and bringing them to mug night at the Levee.
Williams said turnout for the transportation was abysmal but feels that with consistency, there is potential for further transportation and increased attendance at on-campus events.
“We’re trying to bring seniors back on campus to enjoy the events that we plan. It only makes sense to use the transportation provided,” he said. “We need to build a strong foundation on what we have right now, which is a bus exclusively for seniors for events on campus that have alcohol.”
What this means for an all-inclusive student bus is still unknown. But the perception of a drunk bus must be changed if the administration is going to even consider listening to a real student issue.
“Calling it a drunk bus has a very negative connotation to it. We need to move away from calling it that,” Williams said. “Why couldn’t the bus be used to bring seniors back to big sporting events?”
This is not a new concept. Senior week runs on buses transporting students to and from events as a means to protect them from themselves.
Senior class president Marc Hansel ’08 agreed with Williams on the stigma associated with a “drunk bus” and said the administration’s stance of not dealing with the issue at all is “shortsighted.”
“There has to be a way for there to be a bus service for the beach residents to go to and from the beach, especially when there are events happening on campus,” he said. “Instead of trying to find an agreement for safe travel for students to and from the beach provided by the University, the administration has chosen to not deal with the issue at all whatsoever.”
Pellegrino, however, said that being a college student does not exempt you from doing what is right. And, in his opinion, it takes away from what students came to this University to do.
“With all the wonderful things going on around here, we really do a disservice to the talents, interests and attitudes of the vast majority of students here when all we can focus on is what is being consumed, as opposed to what is being learned,” he said.
While it is the student’s job to learn, it is the administration’s job to protect. If every student were to be held to these utopian standards of personal responsibility at all cost, then there would be no need for Public Safety.
Asked if he feels if students drink and drive at the beach, Hansel responded via e-mail, “Most definitely they do. It happens every weekend night.”
As idealistic as this University wants to be, here are the facts: a DATTCO bus picked up my roommate and I from the beach our freshman year when everyone was intoxicated. The Connecticut Post later wrote a story slamming the University for it.
During senior week, drunk buses ran consistently to safeguard against any mishaps and to protect the students from themselves. Nobody is perfect.
Although students should be expected to live within moderation and make responsible decisions, it would be na’ve to think that all of them will. And that has nothing to do with their student status because there are plenty of adults out there who have neither grown up yet nor learned their limit.
Where does that leave Fairfield University? There is an issue at hand that has been tiptoed around for too long and it is about time that the administration, FUSA and student beach residents propose and find a solution.
For as free as Pellegrino claims students are to make their decisions, students should not be handicapped by where they live.
And as irresponsible as it is to get behind the wheel after a few too many, it is just as irresponsible to hide behind University policy instead of actually dealing with the issue at hand and coming up with a viable answer.
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