One of the issues to come up in the wake of the lacrosse situation is a
new focus on alcohol on campus. Duke has a long tradition of partying
which sort of fits under the philosophy of work hard, play hard (a phrase which
Jeff Capel used recently at Oklahoma to describe his own philosophy). Yet
clearly alcohol has caused some problems for the university.
We've been somewhat uncertain about reform efforts. The on-campus
crackdown has inevitably led to off-campus drinking, which led to parties at
places like 610 N. Buchanan. It could be that it's better to have parties
on campus because that limits driving and might inhibit behaviors like hiring
strippers. That said, we understand why former president Nan Keohane cracked
down. There's nothing good about people who are under 20 drinking to the
point where they do stupid things like jump in bonfires.