Alcohol - Upperclassmen

M

Mama-B

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My plebe was describing upperclassmen as falling down drunk last night. While I am not naive to college drinking and did more than my fair share, I guess I am surprised that the upperclassmen are getting that inebriated on the yard. Are they allowed to "mess with" plebes when they are drunk? My plebe and roommates hid from them in their room until they had to go to the bathroom. They found seeing their leadership that drunk disturbing. I guess it's early training for dealing with drunken sailors...
 
This from from USNA web site:

Alcohol and Drugs
As a future naval officer, you are expected to not abuse alcoholand to shun illegal drugs entirely. Plebes, regardless of age, are not allowed to consume alcoholicbeverages. As an upperclass midshipman, you may drink if you are the minimum legal age for drinking (21 in Maryland)

Although I’ve never attended the
USNA and have no direct knowledge, Falling down drunk” is abusing alcohol in my book. And, harassing plebes while in that state is unacceptable behavior which, I would expect, could possibly result in serious discipline. If, God forbid, he a Plebe got hurt in such a circumstance, the discipline could be very severe.

What does the honor code say about the responsibility of someone observing this behavior?
 
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I'm not sure where they got alcohol on a Friday night, since I didn't think they had liberty other than Sat/Sun due to Covid. Maybe something changed this WE.

I imagine that, after being cooped up for weeks, some went a bit nuts. Not condoning it by any means but providing an explanation.

That said, it's not condoned at USNA. However, you don't always get caught. The first time. If you keep it up, you will get caught.

In my day, getting drunk as skunks was relatively common. The concern wasn't that someone would "mess with" plebes, it was that he would walk into a female mid's room and act inappropriately.
 
usna1985 said:
In my day, getting drunk as skunks was relatively common. The concern wasn't that someone would "mess with" plebes, it was that he would walk into a female mid's room and act inappropriately.
Click to expand...
Dealing with drunk upperclassmen was a regular feature of weekend CMOD watches.
 
They have opened a ‘bar’ on the yard. Another different thing due to Covid (and them being locked down and not allowed to drink when they do have liberty). They stared it last Week-ish and had a 3 beer limit. I read in public spaces that this week, the limit was lifted.

There probably should be a happy medium, imo.

I think this is like many things: they are trying different things to see what works for quality of life issues. Upper class are supposed to be able to go out and have some fun in the clubs in ‘normal’ times. I feel bad for them.

If there was massive drinking related passing out. and plebes abused, I suspect things will be reigned in. But to OP’s point, this is something else that’s different via covid. No plebes shouldn’t be abused. But if they see other passing out drunk? I bet that will have an impression on how they would want to look, drunk.
 
usna1985 said:
I'm not sure where they got alcohol on a Friday night, since I didn't think they had liberty other than Sat/Sun due to Covid. Maybe something changed this WE.

I imagine that, after being cooped up for weeks, some went a bit nuts. Not condoning it by any means but providing an explanation.

That said, it's not condoned at USNA. However, you don't always get caught. The first time. If you keep it up, you will get caught.

In my day, getting drunk as skunks was relatively common. The concern wasn't that someone would "mess with" plebes, it was that he would walk into a female mid's room and act inappropriately.
Click to expand...

Some did have liberty Friday. The weekend before, some has Thursday, as well.
 
NJROTC-CC said:
This from from USNA web site:

Alcohol and Drugs
As a future naval officer, you are expected to not abuse alcoholand to shun illegal drugs entirely.

What does the honor code say about the responsibility of someone observing this behavior?
Click to expand...

My plebe did not mention that harrassment occurred but was fearful it could. When they first opened up the bar a week or two ago with a 3 limit drink, some of her company's upperclassmen came back and "dropped" a few plebes and were generally a little obnoxious. My plebe mentioned at the time not looking forward to seeing them when there was no drink limit.

I guess one would have to define "abuse" alcohol.

The company youngsters assisted my plebe and roommates in a different direction to the bathroom to assist them from getting caught up with the drunk MIDS. That was a form of taking responsibility for the wellbeing of the plebes. I am just hopeful that this does not become common place and if it does they probably will be caught.
 
USNA2021_Dad said:
And as a USAFA alum, if you can't deal with it, you're going have a hard time in any of the services.
Click to expand...
Agreed. My plebe will have to toughen up and become more worldly. My husband and I enjoy beverages but not to excess. Our kids have been around drunk family members and friends. They have also seen the ramifications of a beloved cousin go through rehab.
 
I did plenty of drinking in college too. But I went to a civilian university and I never had authority over plebes. Drunken upperclassman being able to “drop” plebes sounds like “drinking on duty.” I don’t like the sound of that and it does not seem like a good example of leadership. It sounds like hazing to me.

I do like the idea of keeping the drinking on campus so there’s no drinking and driving.
 
If your plebe is fearful of drunk upperclassmen, he or she should have a candid discussion with his or her youngster. 99.9999% of drunk upperclassmen will not mess with plebes. The 0.0001% who do will be swiftly corrected by their classmates.
It’s normal to see drunk upperclassmen. It’s weird the first few times as a plebe because upperclassmen are your superiors, not your peers. After plebe year is over it seems a lot more normal.
 
The drinking itself was Academy-sanctioned but with all due respect it was not well-thought out at all. Mids have been cooped up for 3-6 months unable to go out and unable to drink, and we suddenly give them the opportunity to drink unlimited alcohol, “What could possibly go wrong?” They moved back to a 3 drink limit, but I agree there was a happy medium to be reached.
 
They are pretty bottled up on The Yard. Wanting to cut loose a little is pretty common. As a Plebe, my DS (with 👍help of another Plebe) "poured" a firstie into his rack one night. He left him a bottle of water and hoped for the best.

An the term is happy median.👍
 
It wasn’t an open bar by the way, mids paid between $3 and $4 per drink, and part of the reason they opened was to generate profit for NABSD.
 
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