Opinion | Bethel needs to rethink its policy on alcohol

As seen in volume 113, issue 7 of The Collegian

Long before I started attending Bethel College, I knew it was a bit of a party school. As a Mennonite, the stereotype that I grew up hearing was that Eastern Mennonite University, in Virginia, was for the rich Mennonites; Goshen College, in Indiana, was for the smart Mennonites; and Bethel College, here in North Newton, was for the Mennonites who wanted to get drunk on the weekends.

Now, I know this isn’t entirely accurate. There are students here at Bethel who don’t drink, and I’m sure there are parties at other Mennonite colleges. However, there is definitely some truth to the statement.

Despite the fact that Bethel is a dry campus – presumably due to its Mennonite affiliation – alcohol consumption is incredibly common. Every weekend, a large portion of the campus can be found drinking. This fact is an open secret. Considering the fact that many of the staff and faculty members at Bethel also partook in illicit drinking during their time as students here, how could they not be aware that it happens?

I don’t want to come across as though I think that being a dry campus is a bad thing. I just believe that the school should be clear on what is and is not acceptable. In my opinion, when policy does not line up with practice, something needs to change.

As you walk through the courtyard of Warkentin Court, half crushed beer cans are a common sight. In the recycling bins of the residence halls, it’s often accurate to say that there are more liquor bottles than cardboard boxes. The “Bethel Challenge” is to take a shot in every building on campus. “Marathon Monday” is the Monday after football season ends, when many football players drink a beer every hour of the day – including during their classes.

Drinking, on the level which many Bethel students do, is not healthy. What students need in order to learn healthy habits with alcohol, though, is not performative dryness. They need intentional education on how to have a healthy relationship with drinking. If Bethel would choose to focus less on having a theoretically dry campus, and instead decided to meet the problem head on, I think students would benefit greatly.

When drinking is forced underground, unhealthy habits proliferate. When secrecy is key to drinking, then liquor is much more popular than less alcoholic drinks like beer. If the goal of drinking is to get drunk fast, before someone sees you with a bottle, then you are taught to drink fast, and a lot.

Obviously, I don’t have the solution to binge drinking, beyond the necessity of education. What I do know, though, is that calling ourselves a dry campus is not helping anyone. All that “banning” alcohol does is make us hypocrites, and drive drinking underground.