ND-SMC Observer Letter: "We Owe it to the University"

I had my first letter to the editor published in the Notre Dame newspaper yesterday. Probably easier to get published in ND's paper than in the NYT, when I’m criticizing their reporting on Haiti! Since my "fun" writing is limited, I thought I'd double this as a blog post.

This all started with guest column one of my friends wrote—a plea for more responsible drinking on campus. She wrote about her experience volunteering at a hospital where the nurses hate Notre Dame students because so many come in on weekend nights to get their stomachs pumped, taking away from people who are legitimately sick. Also wrote about stepping in vomit on Sunday mornings. She ended with a fear for the one student who won’t be able to answer her question of “why?”

Then, a (male) student wrote a response. He said that if Ulysses Grant could win the Civil War as a drunk, students could surely afford it. After all, as he said, “students only real responsibility is deciding what time to go to the dining hall.” He then continued with a tirade against the disgruntled “townies” who are just jealous of our fun—ending with an encouragement of the “eat, drink, and be merry” philosophy. In light of his thoughts, I was incited to respond.

“We Owe it to the University”
It is sadly ironic that Patrick McMaster's insights ("Nothing wrong with our 'Reputation,'" March 28) appeared on the same day as a piece examining student apathy. I hope McMaster's jocular tone shows he meant to exaggerate. However, if his letter is even partly based on genuine viewpoints - his own, or of anyone in our community - we have other serious problems on our campus. To be clear, this isn't a tirade against college drinking.

We're all supposed to be adults here: we can make our own decisions. But if our entire social lives revolve around the Bud Lights in our hands, I think we're negatively impacting Notre Dame beyond Friday night. We're disrespecting our futures and those who work to offer us futures. McMaster discusses students' lack of real responsibility, and he's right. I'm not supporting a family or running a country; I can afford to have fun. Time with friends is an essential part of our college experience. However, I hope we're not paying more than $40,000 a year just to get wasted every weekend and attend a few classes in between.

Think of everything else we have to engage us. Academic inquiry and research beyond our normal classes. Creative and performing arts. Service and social action groups working on issues in our local and global communities. These, and much more, teach us to stretch our minds beyond textbook information and to develop an informed worldview - essential qualities for our leadership. Having a couple drinks on occasion probably doesn't prevent us from engaging in what our university has to offer. But we could question whether excessive drinking now keeps us from opportunities we can't buy at a bar. That would be disrespecting our future. Tied in with personal lack of respect is lack of respect for our educators. I'll use the term educator broadly: from professors and administrators to all the service people who run our school.

Don't we understand that everyone here is working for our benefit? I've talked to numerous custodians who enjoy their jobs here because they love to see students inspired. Again, we don't need to forsake all "normal" college social life to respect our educators. However, maybe we should think carefully about how we show gratefulness to people who give us so much. Don't we owe it to ourselves, and our community, to take advantage of the whole Notre Dame experience? To not waste it away?