Students should respect program

House Editorial

The SGA, Safe Rides and Student Ambassadors will sponsor an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $1 tonight in the College Center. The event — "Late night. Early morning. No regrets." — is an alternative to the normal late night, awkward morning, weird rash that plagues many JMU students.

Unfortunately, some students may think that this is a good opportunity to catch a cheap meal before or after going out for the night. Smart students will choose one or the other, however — it is disrespectful to try and do both.

Students who make the responsible and, often, legally necessary choice to remain sober have long faced difficulties when searching for a place to hang out on Thursday or weekend nights. Most don’t want to watch a bunch of people abuse their bodies with various substances. With tonight’s program, they don’t have to.

The efforts by the university to change the drinking culture at JMU are laudable and, if students took a step back, they may realize that the events are well worth going to.

Students who would take advantage of these opportunities truly disrespect the people who, at least for that night, have chosen to remain sober, and, for those under age, legal. Every student deserves the same opportunity to have fun, be it sober or otherwise — assuming all laws are obeyed. A student who chooses to have a party wouldn’t want it crashed by the temperance movement, just as the non-drinkers at JMU would prefer their "late night" wasn’t interrupted by drunken escapades.

Choosing to drink before attending an event advocating sobriety is hypocritical, disrespectful and dangerous. The sponsoring organizations will be watching for any inebriated participants — who will be removed or denied entry.

This isn’t to say that "late night" is only for students who don’t drink — far from it. It may surprise some students to learn that there are parties that don’t involve alcohol that they are welcome to attend.

This Thursday is a great chance to stay up late, eat plenty of food donated by our own Dinning Services and enjoy a sunrise you may actually remember.