Our beer drought must end

The Marginalized MajorityBeer has been with us since before the time of the ancient Sumerians; it was our one constant companion, our key to survival. Prior to modern medicine telling us the proper ways to get all the vitamins and nutrients we needed, beer was there to help fortify your heart and bones. It's been with us through thick and thin, never leaving us longer than to make another batch of it. Yet the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) forbids us our sudsy salvation in the name of discipline and order. They force us to sit through football games sober and expect us to be motivated enough to cheer. If the Corps were to bolster the idea of "give me beer or give me death," Smith Hall would sooner call for a firing squad than give the Cadets a brew. To quote Benjamin Franklin: "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." Does Smith Hall not want One VMI – One Corps to feel loved, diverse, equitable, and happy? This denial makes their answer self-evident. Why must we be without ale when the world has embraced it as its own? A simple enough counterargument that given to this question is that VMI does not do ordinary, but this is entirely false. As a school, we have slipped from our self-imposed pedestal and been wallowing in the muck with the other colleges fighting over the uninterested prospective students. If we truly didn't do ordinary, we'd still have "attrition be the mission," mandatory fitness requirements, and a standard for the Corps enforced by the Corps. We are fighting over the carcass of what VMI once stood for; the Corps wants their piece of the pie: we want our God-given and government-granted alcohol. A wise alumnus once wrote, "Alcohol may not be the answer, but once you forget the question, what difference does it make?" If we had beer, the Corps would stop asking those hard, embarrassing questions. Make the games Cadets are forced to attend slightly more tolerable. Let us exercise our right to enjoy a cold one and watch our teams go head-to-head with our rivals. Oppression in the Old Dominion VMI's zero-tolerance rule regarding the possession or indulgence of alcohol on post is completely understandable. The school, after all, is a professional academic setting that produces the highest-quality officers and personnel in the civilian sector. Alcohol and academics do not mix and should remain separated, but given their own domains to exist in. Barracks and academic buildings are obviously not the place for booze, and even if Smith Hall sees reason, it should remain that way. Where the thread of reasonable thought is lost is the ban on alcohol consumption during tailgates and NCAA events. What reason is there to keep people of legal age from openly enjoying an alcoholic drink? Is VMI saying they do not trust their alums to drink responsibly and maintain the image the institute grasps at? Citing from VMI's General Order 2, Page 2, section 2A, it says, Employees, cadets, visitors, and other persons, regardless of age, are not allowed to consume or possess alcohol on Post, including events such as tailgating and locations such as, but not limited to, Alumni Memorial Field, Foster Stadium, Gray-Minor Stadium, and other locales involving Institute athletic events. With the cost of athletics increasing with the number of points opponents defeat us in every game, would it not be a boost to morale if fans could not see the scoreboard through an alcohol haze? This absolute ban does nothing but guarantee drinking is done in private. If you keep cadets from drinking when they want, you push them to make up for lost time when they are finally released from duty and allowed to meander into town or greater Virginia on a weekend away from Post. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks on an occasion for men or four or more drinks on an occasion for women. They claim this leads to a higher risk of injury, such as alcohol poisoning and even sexual assault. At one point in its construction, the Arsenal, the cadet club under Crozet, was said to sell beer to cadets of legal age, but this service does not exist. In claiming it as his initiative, Colonel Bogart often spoke of his vision to build a cadet "Pub," so VMI would be like the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. We found several English majors and asked them the definition of a "Pub" just so Smith Hall could not complain that it was coming from that "small group of disgruntled alumni" they see hiding under every hay rack. According to the Oxford Dictionary, a Pub is "an establishment for the sale of beer and other drinks, and sometimes also food, to be consumed on the premises." It's British, it must be true. Col. Bogart recognized the issue with alcohol in a June 26, 2022, meeting with Mr. "Sal" Vitale '61 and Mr. Larry Respess '61. According to Mr. Vitale's notes of the meeting he provided to and were validated by Col. Bogart: Col. [Bogart] said during Covid, inspections were limited in rooms and other buildings. Liquor was hidden in the rooms and drop ceilings of academic buildings. The TAC staff and others are working hard to clean this up. We saw a drop this year. Possible trouble with merchants who sell to underage students. Reported to the ABC and local police. Col. Bogart said his initiative would solve the problem and blamed the VMI leadership for refusing to embrace it. Again, according to Mr. Vitale's notes from the meeting, Col. Bogart's plan was for: An enhanced 'student union' on post is proposed, similar to previous settings in years past. The topic of regularly serving alcohol was discussed; Institute officials recommended against it. The Col. [Bogart] [w]ants to use this as a place to teach cadet[s] to drink responsibly. There has been no official decision, but the Col. [Bogart] thinks the idea is dead! Based on Col. Bogart's statement that allowing drinking on Post would return to practice "in years past," it appears this is another privilege taken from the Corps recently Col. Bogart wanted to be reinstated. In a follow-up response to Mr. Vitale, Col. Bogart walked back some of his response, stating it was "accurate" he "proposed opening a facility akin to a 'student union' on post so that cadets can purchase and consume alcohol there" to indicate, according to the notes, it would be for "special occasions where it can be controlled. The idea is dead!" USMA does operate "The First-Class Club Kitchen & Taps," according to its website: "Known as the 'Firstie Club,' the building was originally an armory built in the mid-1800s. Upperclassmen cadets and their guests can enjoy a fast-casual restaurant environment with live music and special events. Amenities include a full bar with large-screen televisions, pool tables, outdoor seating, and a private conference/event room." Most importantly, according to the website, "100% of profit is returned to the Corps of Cadets." Meanwhile, back at VMI, First Classmen are not awarded such recognition for their stature and maturity. More and more authority is taken away from the First Class to run barracks, and the Ratline with dwindling funds are funneled to NCAA athletics, One VMI, and other programs imposed on the Corps. So, was it a clever deception to siphon more money off Alumni, like Instagram posts of old Corps videos claiming nothing changed here? Is Smith Hall actively choosing to ignore a solution to the Corp's drinking habits? If a cadet wants to drink, they must leave Post, go into town, and visit one of the many bars, the ABC, or the Stop-N-Rob (Stop-N-Shop). This journey for beer sets up the cadets to want to make the trip worth it, so they are once again pushed to binge drink like a camel storing up for the long trek through the desert of Post Time and time again, cadets come back from a night out at dangerous levels of intoxication due to this behavior. Smith Hall could easily fix this issue by treating beer and liquor with a more realistic, sensible approach. If the Arsenal was operated how Col. Bogart wished, then it could've been that space for the cadets to drink safely and have a reasonable limit placed on them. Something to guard against the unhealthy binge drinking habits that plague the Corps with the current approach to alcohol. Liberty is Found in CharlestonThe Citadel sells beer and wine at its games, allowing of-age cadets to purchase them, yet its Corps of Cadets hasn't fallen to degeneracy and conduct unbecoming of a cadet. When the Citadel placed trust in the Corps and allowed them to exercise their federally mandated right to drink, the cadets did not shirk their responsibility, and as a mass, they held each other accountable. Not to mention, tuition to the Citadel is a LOT lower than at VMI. Drawing from the Citadel's Alcohol and Other Drug Policy, Memo 2-003, page 5, section C2, it says, Exceptions include school-sanctioned and managed NCAA athletics events such as home football, baseball, and basketball games where beer or wine may be purchased from in-facility contractors. These events are staffed by contractors hired by The Citadel, with TIPS-trained servers and safeguards in place limiting the number of beers or wine cadets may purchase. Cadets may purchase beer or wine at these events from authorized vendors in accordance with State law and any other regulations governing conduct. Additional directions can be found in Paragraph 6. Pulling from the Campus Alcohol and Drug Information Center (CADIC) on Citadel's campus, they have put together a mocktail menu for the cadets to make for alcohol-free social gatherings. Recipes such as the Commandant's Colada, which calls for ¼ cup icy cold milk, ¼ cup crushed pineapple in its juice, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp coconut, and four ice cubes, combine all ingredients and blend until thick, serving one person. The resources available to cadets on the CADIC webpage surpass those on VMI's Cadet Counseling Center's page by leaps and bounds. If the Citadel outdoes VMI in this small but crucial area, what other places are they exceeding us that Smith Hall doesn't report? Beating the Bulldogs in many of the sports we face them in, i.e., Football, Basketball, and women's soccer, is a hollow victory if their quality of life back home is better. Below is Citadel's Joe Riley Park Beer Sales Policy, • All patrons wishing to purchase or consume beer must present proper identification showing they are of legal age• Each person wishing to drink beer will have a wristband placed on their wrist and their hand stamped with indelible ink, limiting each person to one wristband per game• Each wristband will have three tabs, which can only be removed by the concessionaire upon purchase of a beer• Beer will be served in a clear, plastic 12-ounce cup, with a three-beer maximum• All beer sales will cease at the end of the 7th inning• A designated driver program will be in place, allowing all properly credentialed designated drivers one free soft drink These rules are clear and concise, leaving no room for either party, cadet or school, to worm around and bend the rules in their favor. For the baseball stadium, where this policy is for, three beers is more than enough to sit through the game. The use of the wristband containing three tabs, which will only be expected if the vendor pulls them off themselves, acts as another block from underage cadets from getting their hands on alcohol. It keeps the Corps honest and the vendors confident that they are supplying legal customs. A SolutionIn recent Board of Visitors (BOV) meetings, Major General Wins called for the BOV to provide the NCAA programs with an additional five million dollars to help the school's teams "compete to win." He believes that this additional funding could come from an increase in the cadets' athletic fee, which is already $3,950. But a simple solution to this funding conundrum is to allow vendors in Foster Stadium, Camron Hall, Gray-Minor Stadium, and even the rugby pitch on Drill Field number 3 to serve alcoholic beverages to of-age cadets and VMI fans. Smith Hall could slap a ten-dollar price tag on each beer, like the NFL stadiums, and they would still be bought out of their stock before the end of the game. If not, he could use it to buy another new Porsche. Close to a majority of the student body turns twenty-one while at VMI, so it doesn't make sense to ignore such a big pool of money when all Smith Hall does is demand tuition raises and beg money off alumni with events like the Day of Giving. If there is worry about trash being left strewn across the stadium and bleachers, you could establish a can and cup collection program. For every ten cans you collect and deposit in the correct receptacle, you can earn a five-dollar voucher on your next purchase of the three-beer wristband. Then, only barracks would look like a dump in its state of degradation. VMI chooses to ignore the easy money sitting in the stands at the football, basketball, baseball, rugby, and soccer games. As a result, thousands of dollars to offset the cost of NCAA activities go untapped. Don't raise our tuition; end this prohibition.Give us beer, and we'll cheer. As part of The Cadet's "ask the BOV" initiative, the staff will be asking the VMI BOV why it will not act similarly to The Citadel BOVand West Point.