Phones start buzzing, ringing and lighting up, reading “TOMORROW’S DOLPHY DAY!” “Finally it’s here!!!” “LET’S GET F***ED UP!” Students put on their Dolphy Day shirts, start filling up their duct-taped jugs and drink them down just as fast as they were filled. And it’s not even 7 p.m.

The parties begin – the senior’s Wizard party, the junior’s Warlock party and the freshmen and sophomores piling into dorms and suites to exchange booze they bought from their upperclassmen friends.

By the time the torches come out around 2 a.m. for the Wizard to officially announce the big day, most are far from sober; some can’t walk; and a few are already passed out in the quad.

At about 3 a.m., when the night portion of Dolphy Day is coming to a close, students head back to the dorm to sober up, get some sleep and recuperate their composure before starting all over again in the morning.

But not so fast commuters…

In an effort to keep non-residents out of dorms on the night of utter chaos, RA’s and security personnel set up tables outside of dorms, requiring resident students to check in, and commuter students who came up to spend the night with their resident friends to stay out.

But where’s an LMC commuter to go now? Home?

“I can barely walk straight; how am I supposed to drive straight?”

“You can’t come in,” the RA says.

Julia Duff, a junior, describes her experience on Dolphy Day Eve as she confronted the RA’s, convinced several of her friends that they shouldn’t take the risk driving and, when all else failed, snuck them in a first floor dormitory window.

I am extremely concerned with the actions taken by Le Moyne authority and security figures on Dolphy Day this year. Like most others, I have come to enjoy the night time celebration and ritual with the presentation of the Wizard and hanging out with my friends. However, when the night was over and we all began to head in, I was appalled to hear that my friends who were commuters were not allowed to spend the night in the dorm after the night time ceremony. Any and all Le Moyne personnel know that Dolphy Day involves drinking and partying; so when my friends were told to go home and go to their cars, I was just downright disgusted. My friends and I were unaware that they would not be allowed to spend the night; there was no announcement or warning about this to students at all whatsoever. We never in a million years guessed commuters would be turned away, because it’s just so ridiculous. I mean, they are Le Moyne students as well. They should be able to be a part of the Dolphy Day fun just like any other student here. But instead, the college discriminated against them and put so many of them at serious risk to behave irresponsibly, and possibly get seriously injured. I mean, think about it – how twisted is it that I had to break the rules and sneak my commuter friends through a window just to prevent them from driving drunk? Why did I have to go through such lengths to keep my friends safe? Is that not what the college wants?

Sure, RA’s and security want to keep people safe. I understand you don’t want random people who don’t even go to this school coming in. But people who are actually students here can’t even have a safe place to stay? It’s the one night of the year that the entire campus literally shuts down, everyone stops everything and gets wasted. Seems like drunk driving should be the administration’s first concern, not last.

Drunk driving is an option that I am sure many commuters would have resorted to if they were impaired and felt they had no other options. Drunk driving is a common choice people make while impaired and behaving irresponsibly, and the school needs to work to prevent it from happening, not practically enabling it by placing students in situations that make drunk driving seem necessary. 

Luckily, I was able to crack open a window, my friends were able to climb their way up in, and everyone stayed safe and sound. 

It’s just unfortunate and really sad that in this situation, it was smarter to go against the school’s wishes by sneaking in than obeying their rules. I see absolutely no point in this policy of not allowing them to stay. I love Dolphy Day and think all students should get to partake in all its events.