When Patricia A. Whitely, vice president of Student Affairs, finalized the no-go decision on the Halloween Ibis Ride, many Student Government members and students were unhappy, and for good reason. After all, the Halloween Ibis Ride was, above all else, convenient-especially for drunk students who needed a mode of transportation to and from Coconut Grove.
Still, just as it is not the university’s responsibility to prevent us from driving drunk any other night of the year, neither is it their responsibility on Halloween. Whitely pointed out that there is a fine line between preparing for safe, drunken debauchery and outright enablement.
If the university did provide buses to the Grove, and the students that used the service still got hurt in some way via underage drinking arrests, the finger of liability would be pointed directly at the university; hardly a win-win situation.
Furthermore, the Grove is an entity unto itself, particularly on Halloween. We don’t have shuttles to other hot Halloween party spots like South Beach and Fantasy Fest, so why should the Grove be an exception? For the past three years, it was just an added bonus that UM paid (in more ways than one) for our transportation to and from this drunken costume party. But that doesn’t mean it should be expected.
Based on last year’s incident, the inherent negatives definitely outweigh the positives. Any student who was there at Stanford Circle should (if they can remember it) be able to testify to that.
And for those who claim that by canceling the shuttle, the university is forcing them to drive back to school intoxicated? Try dressing up as “responsible” this Halloween and do what any grown person does nearly every other night of the week: Call a cab, designate a driver or hitch a ride on a witch’s broomstick.
Editorials represent the majority view of The Miami Hurricane editorial board.
