In the September 7 issue, Andrew Berkowitz reflected on how Beerfest’s media blitz portrays Colgate as a place of a “campus where white people spend … years getting drunk, and awkwardly tongue-kissing other white people in the basements of smelly fraternities.” While some may reflect on Colgate’s halcyon days of yore, the vast majority of alumni and students see Colgate as not an intellectual democracy but a land of mob rule where anything goes as long as a few friends are present to back you up. And so the meek shall inherit their rooms – if you don’t want to see someone peeing on your house, shut your blinds. If you want to avoid being pushed and shoved, don’t try to get into the Jug. If you don’t want to hear derogatory comments and slurs, then put on a good CD, headphones and pretend that you don’t reside at Colgate.

I had thought about all this before, but last Saturday these images came barging into the LGBTQ Safe House in the form of five drunken varsity lacrosse players and alumni. They saw that our door was slightly ajar and decided to make themselves at home. When asked to leave they lied about someone having invited them in. When I offered to call Campus Safety to resolve the matter they threatened to resolve issues by pummeling my face into a table. Finally they all left, though two had to be forcibly removed. This resulted in the rest of their lacrosse buddies tossing beer at the house while yelling that we are all fags. I shudder to think what would have happened in our house, with its dozen girls, if the lacrosse players had wanted more than to pour beer on our furniture.

I don’t know how Colgate should solve problems like these. Should the lacrosse team be responsible for their drunken and narrow-minded teammates? Should a Campus Safety officer follow every alumnus as they rampage through town? Is it possible for Colgate to become a more civil and accepting place, or at least teach that public urination is a negative thing? And most of all, do alumni want the halcyon Colgate of yore, or should Colgate be just another word for debauchery? Me, I’m fleeing to Australia.