Students are going to drink before Vandal football games whether or not the Idaho State Board of Education wants to admit it.

ASUI President Garrett Holbrook said the state board of education “ignored reality” when it denied a request by ASUI and the University of Idaho administration to allow students to have their own beer garden at football tailgating events.

The board said that allowing students to drink in the Kibbie Dome parking lot before games would be an endorsement of student drinking.
The proposed beer garden, which has been in development for two years, would have provided a regulated environment where students aged 21 and up would be able to drink up until the point of the game, when they would walk to the Kibbie Dome from the parking lot.

Holbrook said the proposal included areas for concerts and food, so students would not just be consuming alcohol.

The alternatives — drinking at home or a bar and then driving to the game — have potentially life-threatening consequences for both students and the community.

Some students dead-set on drinking before games may decide against attending altogether, Holbrook said.

Steven Daley-Laursen, UI president, and Lloyd Mues, vice president for finance and administration, accompanied Holbrook when he made his proposal to the state board. “I’m very happy to say that they stood up for (the students),” Holbrook said.

University administrators know that students will drink whether or not they are provided an authorized area to do so, and by advocating a regulated area, administrators are looking out for the safety of students.

UI alumni have a beer garden at tailgating events, but forcing students and alumni to mingle before games is an unappealing prospect for both groups.

Holbrook said students tend to be loud and raucous before games, something that high-end donors in the alumni area might not appreciate.

One can’t blame the state board for discouraging excessive alcohol consumption, but forcing students to hide off-campus to drink before football games is irresponsible and shows a lack of understanding of the university’s pre-game traditions and culture.

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