Both my mom and dad are UW-P alumni from the early 1980s. They both were able to drink on campus on their 18th birthdays. There were taps in the basements of the McGregor Hall where they both could grab a cold one standing shoulder to shoulder with some of their professors, classmates and in my dad’s case, older siblings. They graduated in 1984, the same year that the legal drinking age changed to 21.

Illustration by Caitlin Cook

Twenty-five years later, I followed in their footsteps, now a student in my fifth year on campus. Like my parents, I drank on my eighteenth birthday. But instead of staying on campus, I found myself hiding in a dingy basement, bought a $5 plastic cup, and drank until I puked early into the next morning.

If college students are going to drink regardless of the law, then maybe we should consider changing the law itself.

Seven states, including Wisconsin, are currently considering changes to the drinking laws. There have been statements made by several university presidents that say they would be in favor of lowering the drinking age. According to the Chicago Tribune, the presidents of Duke, Syracuse and Ohio State University are among those who have signed the statement identifying that there is a problem and something needs to change. I agree.

In college, we all want to find who we are. To this end, there will always be students who will drink, regardless of the legal drinking age. So even if drinking is illegal to a majority of the student body, they will find ways to do so anyhow, and that’s the dangerous scenario those university presidents want to change. It’s much more dangerous to drink illegally, without any kind of supervision, than it is to drink in a bar where there is someone pouring the beer for you and the Road Crew is available.

I was lucky because alcohol wasn’t a forbidden subject when I was growing up, partly because of my parents’ own experiences. Others aren’t so fortunate and may suffer dire consequences without it.

My point is this: Let’s reopen the discussion about alcohol. It’s a taboo topic that we need to discuss not only on a campus-wide level, but as an issue that affects all young people everywhere regardless of whether they’re in college, head of a college, or in the Senate. Ideally, this conversation would benefit university towns everywhere, including little Platteville.

The whole community could take part in this discussion and provide a safer enviornment for the students and citizens of Platteville. Wouldn’t that be better than what goes on now?