College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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Above: Being carded is a given for a. students who decide to spend their evenings at the delis. Although many students u-ere underage they could still get into the delis to enjoy the atmosphere alcohol free. Right: The golden beverage is al- ways consumed by those in search of alcohol, but sometimes it becomes a little boring. Seniors like Sarah Handley, Cory Hansen and Laura Draegert enjoyed the more e, pen- sive wine coolers that had become popular among students around campus.

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Lifestyles Drinking Ago Master Plan Student Association Condoms Rumors Book Prices Long Distance Relationships Student Bands Road Trips Senior State of Mind Behind the Scenes Green and Gold Christmas Christmas in the ' Burg Colonial Williamsburg Rain in the ' Burg Drinking Games Intramurals Last Dav of Classes 20 22 24 26 27 28 30 32 36 38 40 42 44 46 48 50 52 54

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Without The ( .r, 111(11. ithcr ( ' .hiiisc. ' - l Wiis Under The Innuciice In 1984, most of the stu- dents at the college would have said that the only thing to be done in Williamsburg at night and on weekends was to drink And drink thev did. The dell ' s were packed every night, sometimes even turn- ing the students away The fraternities were also busy, the drinking age had been raised to 21 . but a grandfather clause allowed most of the students to legally drink beer Those few freshmen without a fake ID had plenty of friends who could purchase for them In the summer of 1987. the grandfather clause ended, the academic year of 1987-88 was the first in which only student ' s of age 21 could le- gally drink alcohol. The change affected many school policies, local businesses, and of course, the students them- selves. The first signs ap- peared in 1986, as ABC agents made several raids on the de- li ' s, and busted up a fake I.D. manufacturing plant on campus Fraternities became more selective about who was let in and who would drink. Eventually the college even placed limits on the number of kegs allowed at parties where alcohol was available. When 1 filled out the alcohol form, I specified our party would have 3 kegs and 60 drinkers, said Don Savage, a senior resident of Lodge 10. Then I read the form. Since 45 people were required for every keg, we suddenly had 90 people com- Left: Stamping hands help hshmentsd nanus [ifips fslab- .inguish legal drinkers rom those underage. Renee Snyder nd John Holloway were given the jsk of approving students for a hap- ' V hour Below: An advantage of senior status means one can drink alcohol at cam- pus functions. Since most seniors like Donna Romankow, Kathy Gram- bling and Maria Santucci were legal, the senior class could sponsor happy ot StriclfM ' a ' s ing and only 2 kegs. At cam- pus wide events, as well as formal Greek functions, it be- came common to set aside a separate area for legal drink- ers, where they could con- sume alcohol. There had been big changes at the deli ' s. Atten- dance was noticeably down, up to 50 f in some cases. Don Fit gerald, night manager at the Green Leafe, said that col- lege students accounted for 90 of their business, which had been cut in half He also noted that consumption of li- quor was about half the stu- dent sales, where before it had been a small percentage. At Paul ' s, where liquor was not sold, soda sales shot up, as beer sales fell. Business how- ever was just as good as usual. I ' m at Mama ' s every Thurs- day night, says Erinn Finger, a freshman. Drinking is not the important aspect - it ' s tra- dition now. How has the raised drink- ing age affected the student body? I just don ' t go out any- more, is a typical response. The result was more small parties in rooms, and larger parties in off-campus apart- ments. Many students felt that the amount of alcohol they consumed had in- creased, despite regulations. It seemed everyone still knew someone who was le- gal or could pass for it. And since liquor was just as easy to obtain as beer, many stu- dents were turning to hard alcohol more and more often. Drinking was still the most popular activity in Williams- burg. The only thing that changed was the location. Perhaps the reasons too. Drinking had been a com- mon social activity, but it be- came a gesture of defiance, and possibly even a private, destructive activity. — Paul Bonelli