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UW Oshkosh has made a name for itself, not only with Oshkosh being the sixth drunkest city in the nation, but also with UWO’s own drunken reputation. It is not hard to believe our town would come to be known as “Sloshkosh.”

With UWO being a wet campus, we can connect the invisible dots and agree Sloshkosh got its name not just from its inhabitants, but from the college students who live here, too.

Just take a look on your local Snapchat story: it is full of beer pong; drunk students; vodka shots; and people walking in somewhat straight lines. So, should UWO dry up?
In my opinion, yes, but after interviewing some students and looking at what could happen, I believe they may have sobered up my imagination.

If Oshkosh became a dry campus, then there would be absolutely no alcohol allowed on campus—even if you are of age. Many colleges across the U.S. follow these rules, but if you look closely, you can see where there are some flaws.

Completely getting rid of alcohol would start a prohibition-like rebellion where many would start to drink in secret, even though many students try to do so already and fail at this task.

Alcohol would be smuggled onto campus with the only evidence of drinking being constantly throwing up, hungover students who can hardly make it to an 8 a.m. class and drunk students giggling in the the dorm hallways. Oh, and all the beer cans that failed to make it into the recycling cans.

Many other students agree.

UWO freshman Sami Cowan said that a dry campus would cause students to drink more.

“People are going to drink anyway, so there’ll just be more kids getting in trouble if it’s on a dry campus,” said Cowain. This is something to consider.

If UWO would dry up, I’m sure the drinking habits would go down slightly, but this does not include off-campus partying that happens every Friday and Saturday night, along with possible drinking inside the dorms.

However, don’t you think a dry campus would automatically mean a safer campus?

Perhaps not. As we could tell from earlier in the semester from several campus emails that everyone received, drinking is not always the culprit for on-campus crime.

In fact, some students on campus believe if UWO dries up, there might be more poor choices on campus. The Safewalk program specifically might be affected by it because a student might feel they would get in trouble.

Also, becoming a dry campus could affect overall enrollment.

Oshkosh is known for being a party campus, and many students come just for the party lifestyle one can attain on campus. After living in South Scott for the past three weeks, I can attest the parties go late and there is plenty of barf to go around.

In addition, students are not the only people who are on campus.

Professors are going to be of age, and they also would not be allowed to have a drink on campus. Gatherings on campus of a professional manner would not be able to serve alcoholic beverages.

Many would be affected by the change of the dry-versus-wet campus idea. Sloshkosh being what it is, I no longer see the campus that I had hoped it could become as a dry campus once I looked at new information provided by my fellow students.

UWO is nowhere near becoming a dry campus, but I will still keep my ears out for word of change that may never come.