Front lawns littered with red Solo cups and crushed beer cans. Trash cans brimming with frat party flyers and drained bottles. Sticky shot glasses lying supine on kitchen counters. The detritus of another Saturday night at Penn. And, to lend credit to Penn's reputation as the "social Ivy," potentially the telltale remnants of any night of the week.
It is a widely acknowledged fact that although most Penn students pride themselves on their resolute work ethic and academic excellence, they also refuse to sacrifice playing hard for working hard. The stereotype of the alcohol-heavy college life is no less relevant at Penn than at larger, less academically rigorous universities. After all, the crux of the party culture exists in the form of Greek-hosted events, local bars, downtown clubs and house parties. Yet entangled in the masses of party-goers exists a number of Penn students just as deeply invested in their decision to not drink as their counterparts have made the consumption of alcohol an important part of their college experience. And, yes, these sober students are entangled - a concomitant element of the Penn social scene, not a disparate culture of their own. Whether motivated to maintain sobriety by religion, family or plain old dislike of the stuff, alcohol-abstinent Penn students argue that they can party just as hard and have just as much fun. Just without the hangover.
Certain religions practiced by Penn students discourage the consumption of alcohol, like Mormonism and various other sects of Christianity. The belief that overindulgence is a sin in some cases leads to the suppression of alcohol. "I'm a Christian and the Bible discourages drunkenness," says freshman Susannah Krewson. She says the fact that she is under the legal drinking age, and Christianity has taught her to honor the law, is another factor in her choice not to drink. And when people have asked senior David Tillotson, who practices Mormonism, why he has chosen to avoid alcohol, he says he answers, "I'm from Utah, and it's a personal choice."
Other Penn students attribute their decision to stay sober to the impact alcohol has had on their family. Sophomore Lindsay Eierman says her grandmother's alcoholism fractured familial relationships. "I was always under the impression that she felt closer to alcohol than she did to her family," says Eierman. "I regret not getting to know her before she passed away. While I don't know her favorite color or her favorite animal, I do know her drink order - Seagram's 7, on the rocks, with a twist." Krewson too justifies her sobriety in part by her grandfather's death from alcohol-related cancer.
But many Penn students refrain from drinking simply due to an aversion towards the substance. After all, many would attest to the fact that alcohol, at least the cheap kind most readily available on college campuses, is not particularly appealing to the taste buds. "I personally dislike the taste of wine, beer and vodka, and choose to stay away from it," junior Drew Tye says. "If I'm going to be indulgent and splurge on something sinful, as in delicious and worth its weight in calories, I'd rather have chocolate cake." Tye likens the taste of her first, and near-last, sip of alcohol - a bit of Corona at a friend of a friend of a friend's high school house party - to "panther piss, hypothetically." Other students, like Tillotson and sophomore Andrew Kincaid, have tried alcohol but decided to stay sober nevertheless. On the other hand, Krewson says she has never tried alcohol, but finds the prospect of drinking unpalatable. "Honestly, I've never really had the desire to drink," she says. "The taste and smell is not appealing."
And there's more to it than bad taste. It's no secret that alcohol lowers inhibitions and can thus lead to poor decision making. "Whether alcohol causes you to accidentally voice your true feelings about your best friend's ugly haircut or gives you the false impression that making out with the smelly kid from English class is actually a good idea, drinking generally puts you in situations that are against your actual desires," says Eierman. Kincaid also says he abstains from alcohol to avoid the behavioral consequences that often come hand in hand with a gin and tonic or two. "Even if I did drink, I don't think I would find the prospect of drinking myself sloppy and passing out in my own vomit in front of the Castle a very attractive prospect," he says. "At least, I hope I never would, for the sake of my dignity."
So what is it really like to stay sober on a campus where empty kegs are permanent frat house fixtures and freshmen spend more time and money on the hunt for a perfect fake ID than on furnishing their dorm rooms?
On the one hand, many students say their sobriety has no detrimental effect whatsoever on their participation in the Penn party culture. "As long as someone is drinking my beer for me, I'm one hell of a Beirut player," Tillotson says. So even drinking games do not preclude the involvement of those who are "holding down Team Sober," as Tillotson says. Krewson too says she has just as much fun out at night as her friends that drink. "Without a doubt, it's fun to dress up and accompany friends through the night to a big lighted house pulsing with music and an energized, well-dressed crowd," she says. "And, of course, to get down and dance."
For Tye, it's all about the company. She says she surrounds herself with people that make it easy to have a good time. "My friends understand how I feel, never make me feel bad about my decision to abstain and refrain from judgment," she says. "I love to go out, dance and be social, and doing it sober works for me."
But while most sober Penn students do not let abstinence from alcohol stop them from engaging in the alcohol-heavy nightlife, many also say that the experience can grow stale. "Honestly, I don't know how so many girls have the strength to bear Philadelphia winters while wearing miniskirts or the coordination to walk down Locust in stilettos," says Eierman. "And after all that effort, in order to hook up with a guy who will tell you you're beautiful, even though he might or might not know who you are when you're hooking up? I'd rather just wait for a guy who can admire my natural personality. After all, the person I'm going to marry is going to spend the majority of his time with sober Lindsay, not drunk Lindsay."
While Krewson says she does not let her sobriety prevent her from joining her friends that do drink, she says the experience of "mingling throughout an inebriated sea of bodies" sometimes falls flat. "After a while, you reach that point where the atmosphere grows old and you start to feel a little excluded, soiled and smothered," she says. "I'm never the last one to leave."
And when the party culture becomes frustrating, Tye says she has no trouble finding other options. "I love hanging out with my friends at home, going out to see a movie, walking around downtown, people watching in Rittenhouse Square, reading and writing," she says. "And I love me some bowling."
Indeed, Eierman says she has found no limit to the sober activity possibilities both on and off campus. "My friends and I play late-night capture the flag, we watch movies, we listen to our musically-inclined friends play music and we just hang out and talk," she says. "Off campus, my friends and I go to shows downtown, we see movies at the Ritz and we just explore the undiscovered pockets of Philadelphia."
Other students turn to sports, a domain in which sobriety is a benefit, if not a necessity. Tillotson says he will go to the gym or play basketball and football with his friends as alternatives to getting drunk.
Whether out on the Smoke's dance floor or seeking purely sober entertainment, students at Penn who abstain from drinking attest overwhelmingly to the benefits of sobriety. Tye says she delights in the fact that her friends will always have someone accountable to turn to if they need help. "I enjoy being the 'mommy' of the group," she says. "Responsibility is basically my middle name." Eierman agrees that her sobriety has had a positive effect on her relationships with friends. "Knowing that I don't have to drink to impress anyone, I feel like my friends value and respect me more," she says. "I also know much more about my friends' interests and passions and can connect with them on a deeper level."
Tillotson points to more personal advantages to avoiding alcohol. For him, staying sober means "fewer walks of shame. if you can call that a benefit," he says. Kincaid extends the list: "No beer belly, usually remembering where I put my pants, never blacking out and having my debauched, potentially life-threatening antics related to me Sunday afternoon by an innocent bystander, never confessing my undying love to that girl I've been pining after for months only to realize that her boyfriend is standing right next to her and is far bigger than I am."
But even though students that abstain from alcohol stand by their choice, many just as firmly maintain that they make no judgments against those students who do drink. "I don't think that not drinking makes me better than anyone else," says junior Cat Prewitt. "My friends are incredible people and drinking is a pretty big part of their lives each week."
Sober students at Penn may seem like a dying breed, or a foreign species or pitiable in their self-deprivation of the glories of keg stands, beer shot-gunning and the Blarney Tuesday night Long Island iced tea drink special. But a lot of sober students say the reaction from those who drink is often far from condescending. "I have never felt pressure to drink or been penalized or ridiculed for abstaining by other friends who don't," Krewson says. "Believe it or not, a lot of people will respond with something like, 'I admire that' or 'huh, that's commendable' or 'more power to you."
