OXFORD, Ohio: A university in Ohio is offering alternative activities and increasing police patrols in preparation for a decades-old tradition of celebrating with green-dyed beer on the Thursday before spring break.
Green Beer Day at Miami University in Oxford begins this Thursday morning. The campus community is changing education and safety after several recent drinking-related problems.
More than 20 college-age students were hospitalized in one weekend after drinking. Another student died and had a blood-alcohol content of .347 percent. The legal limit for driving is .08.
Fewer places will open early this year, and fraternities won’t serve hard liquor at parties.
Campus and city police will also conduct joint police patrols. Campus police will distribute water from their cruisers, and an alcohol awareness campaign is ongoing. A cleanup day will begin at noon Friday.
“With a new university president who has ‘walked the talk’ of building community on campus and in Oxford, conversations arose about doing more this year,” a school spokesman said in a statement.
Miami University student Ian Cory told WXIX-TV that he doesn’t believe there will be too many issues this year.
“I think a lot of people are very responsible here, and I think Miami is full of a whole bunch of smart students,” he said.
But fellow student Shannon Pressler said people will likely do “what they’ve always done,” and student Jaxson Rairden echoed her sentiments.
“There will probably be a lot of intoxicated college students,” Rairden said.