Dozens of college presidents have signed a letter to the NCAA complaining about too many beer ads during the basketball tournaments. They said that the commercials were “embarrassingly prominent.” I guess the presidents were embarrassed by evidence that college kids drink a lot. Certainly, some of the presidents head schools that actually restrain alcohol consumption on their campuses, but others do not.
Under-age drinking is an open secret. In a recent book, Harry Lewis, former dean of Harvard College, wrote disapprovingly that Harvard has created an on-campus pub near the freshmen dorms, selling beer for a dollar. “Harvard now comes very close to saying that underage drinking is acceptable as long as you don’t get caught–rather like jaywalking.” (Harvard president Drew Faust signed the letter.)
College drinking is acceptable, but too much attention is embarrassing.
