Editorial: New Permitted Alcohol Sales Could Cause More Problems

This weekend, the Coyote football team will be hosting Cal Poly for their home opener of the season. For students and Coyote fans alike, this year’s game day atmosphere will be completely different, and not just because Coyote Alley will be transforming tailgating, but because it is the first time alcohol sales will be permitted inside the Dome.

Now is this idea to allow fans 21 and over to purchase alcohol while attending a campus event a good idea? We believe there are pros and cons to this idea.

One positive comes with the hope that this new rule will draw more fans back to Coyote sporting events. In recent years, Coyote events have seen a decrease in attendance, likely in part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because students and fans would rather stay at home where they can drink a cold one with their friends.

This new initiative may bring more fans back to the stands, what cost will this come at? While the university is welcoming alcohol to the game day atmosphere, it’s also struggling to keep alcohol out of the dorms and in other aspects of campus life.

According to a 2018 Forbes article, more than a third of college students report they have engaged in binge drinking in the past month, 20% of college students meet the criteria for alcohol use disorder, alcohol is a factor in roughly 700,000 sexual assaults involving students each year and more than 1800 college students die annually from alcohol-related injuries.

With these statistics in mind, and Forbes saying college leaders attribute alcohol abuse as one of their greatest campus threats, it feels like as students we are receiving many mixed messages.

While the new alcohol sales taking place at Coyote sporting events may encourage fans to come back to in-person festivities, the real question is, do the pros outweigh the cons?

For those of you going to the football game this weekend, we hope you have fun but also drink responsibly.