The University of Idaho is getting ready for one of the most exciting weekends of the year. Students are buying costumes, candy is selling out and the campus is getting ready to face another weekend of fun and excitement. Whether students are going out to bars or parties or staying in and giving out candy, Halloween is a campus favorite.
However, Halloween is a major time for drinking both on and off campus. Known as “Halloweekend,” it is one of the biggest party weekends at UI. Being so soon after midterms, it is the perfect time to unwind and have fun for students. A study published in the National Library of Medicine showed that general drinking, pregaming and negative consequences were most prevalent on Halloweekend compared with the weekend before and after.
This isn’t just a phenomenon experienced here at UI; this is a nationwide occurrence that affects thousands of college students every year. However, it is not necessarily a problem that needs to be fixed.
Nathan Tinno, a senior studying business economics, said, “I would say it’s probably one of the most wild times of the year. It’s about when everybody really lets loose. There’s a lot of parties that go on.”
Tinno has experienced almost four Halloweekends at UI, and he recounted how they are one of the wildest times of the year. However, Tinno didn’t think that the drinking culture around Halloweekend needs to be changed.
“I don’t really think it should be changed much,” he said. “We’re all young college students just trying to have fun and everything. Growing up trick-or-treating with your parents, and then now transitioning into adult life. It could be really fun if you do it the right way and do it safely.”
While drinking can be a very serious concern at the university, especially for underage drinkers, there should be a push to be more aware rather than avoiding the holiday all together. Promoting safe drinking habits as well as potential consequences during the week leading up to Halloween could help students stay informed if they choose to partake.
The NLM study found that “interventions targeting alcohol use and pregaming on ‘Halloweekend’ may be beneficial to reduce related harm for heavy-drinking students.” This presents the option of risk abatement rather than prohibition.
However, it seems the university has different views on the weekend. While UI has not explicitly stated that the drinking culture around Halloweekend has concerned it, university officials usually plan an event requiring the campus to be “dry” (no substances) during this time.
This year, Envision Idaho will take place on Saturday, when the campus will be “dry” from 7 a.m.-4 p.m. for sororities and all day for fraternities. In 2024, Parent and Family Weekend took place on the same weekend as Halloween. Many students see this as a measure to curb the wild drinking culture during the weekend.
If you are throwing or attending a party this weekend, consider implementing some safeguards to prevent out-of-control drinking, such as limiting yourself to a certain number of drinks or using a buddy system. After all, when things get out of control, Halloweekend becomes less fun for everyone.
Campus resources are also available, such as Safewalk and Lyft credits.
If there is an emergency, it’s important to note that Idaho and the university have an amnesty policy around drinking for both the person being called for and the person who calls.
While the holiday is fun for students, it’s important to keep in mind that safety should be everyone’s priority.
Christopher Sprague can be reached at [email protected].