The Rambling Man

Author: Raam Wong Opinions Editor

Increasingly I've been aware of the dichotomy between the image of the College that the administration seeks to portray to alumni—that of serious liberal arts achievement—and the reality of rowdy drunkenness that is typical at McCullough dance parties, social houses and in Old Chapel. This weekend's Homecoming was the perfect example of this. However, this divide wasn't immediately visible Saturday as spirited students joined alumni at Kirk Alumni Stadium. What an exciting event: the ball whished through the air, and the crowd's excitement was evident in its roar. Indeed, all the tailgaters agreed it was the best game of beer pong they had seen all day. Based on the number of students I saw in the parking lot passed out between cars and being declared legally dead, it was obvious to me that students were redefining what it means to have "school spirit."

The generational divide was apparent earlier in the weekend by the way in which students and alumni chose to kick off Homecoming. While many alumni began the weekend by attending a CFA concert Thursday evening or by going to a reception Friday afternoon, most current students began pre-gaming for the weekend sometime last spring.

To its credit, the College did its best to unify students and alumni with a big, traditional Homecoming football game. And there certainly was no lack of spirit for our Division III football team. Many fans arrived decked out in the school colors of blue, white and fuchsia. Yet, the typical response given by these tailgating Panthers to the alumna asking the score of the game was, "There's a game?"

Despite the disappointment of many uppity alumni who expected students to be "respectable," "dignified" or "clothed while in public," they were for the most part shielded from the students' drunken madness due to the fact they stayed in the stadium, while most of the sloshed students remained tailgating outside. (They of course couldn't care less about the field hockey game, or whatever other sport was being played off somewhere where there wasn't any beer.)

Separated from the hammered students, the alumni were able to enjoy the game. And during halftime, they watched their children or grandchildren rush the field with footballs and act out the plays they had just seen their hero Panthers perform. Indeed, alumni beamed as they watched the kids fumble the ball, throw incompletions and run down the field in the wrong direction.

The picture-perfect fall day was only enhanced by three Golden Retrievers playing fetch with an older couple on an adjacent field. They frolicked through the crimson leaves and caught Frisbees between their teeth. And I think the dogs were having fun too. The dogs' excitement may have also been due to the fact that they were a bit drunk from licking discarded beer cans and participating in the occasional keg stand. As the crowd watched all this happen, many thought about how good we have it here at Middlebury: drunk Golden Retrievers and little junior Panthers tripping over their own feet—does college get any better than this?

But just as alumni were reflecting on what an idyllic fall day it was and making a mental note to themselves to build the College a new field house, a pack of ADP pledges rushed the field to perform their halftime show. Now normally the College is the pinnacle of class and tastefulness. This is exhibited by the ringing chapel bells, the Bicentennial Ball and the floral window curtains in Proctor that appear to be circa-1970s but in reality were installed circa-May 14, 2000. But with the halftime show, the administration really dropped the ball (behavior more typical of the football team than the College).

The show included one rather exuberant person lifting up the skirt he was wearing and mooning the audience. None of the alumni and trustees present knew what to make of the spectacle, but the distinct sound of checkbooks closing could be heard. Panicked, John McCardell jumped to his feet and frantically began yelling, "Remember Bicentennial Hall! Bicentennial!" Still, his shouts couldn't hold the attention of crowd members who were now staring at ADP's grand finale of a burning couch.

Students were able to redeem themselves with the alumni that evening when the College concluded the Bicentennial Fundraising Campaign with an opulent dinner/dance extravaganza that gave contributors the perfect opportunity to see what their contributions had been used towards: opulent dinner/dance extravaganzas. Many students found the event a good opportunity to network with some fairly successful and powerful alumni. In fact, I had the opportunity to meet several business bigwigs, and, after giving them a chance to really get to know me, I can safely say that after graduation I will still be unemployed.

Students were also able to find common ground with the alumni in their enjoyment of the blues band that performed. However, I think some were somewhat confused when I broke out glow sticks and began grinding with a woman from the class of '32. I even convinced the band to strike up a rendition of "Like a Prayer," in which I joined some alumni in following the tradition of taking off our shirts. It only hit me later that these older alumni probably hadn't done this since they were at Middlebury and stripped down to their girdles when they heard the 1827 Billboard hit, "Oh, Susannah."

After spending several hours getting to know students at the dinner/dance, alumni began to leave, anxious as they were to visit their old stomping grounds around campus. Some visited the old fraternity houses or rooms they had once lived in, while one unfortunate alum, unaware of recent changes at the College, fell out of the Old Science Center.

Students and alumni won't soon forget that night when they were given the opportunity to bond. While I think at the football game the alumni were reluctant to socialize with the many idiotic, fall-down-drunk students in the parking lot, they were charmed by the more mature and polite students at the dance. So I think we students can all learn one valuable lesson from this: alumni should really start drinking more.



www.middlebury.edu/~rwong