My experience of this year’s AMS BBQ can be described in two words: sober and hungry. Well, not hungry. Fortunately for me I was able to buy myself food from the food vendors, but this was not the case for everyone at the BBQ.
I attended the barbeque with two of my sorority sisters, one of whom is still 18 years old. We knew going in that this meant we wouldn’t be drinking; what we didn’t expect is that it also meant we wouldn’t be eating – not on the 18 and under side, anyways. For some reason, the AMS had sectioned off the food vendors onto the 19+ side of the party, along with the alcohol, thereby preventing anyone under the age of 19 from being able to buy food.
The reason for this is unclear; it seems to me that it would be in the best interests of the vendors as well as the students to have the food vendors accessible to all. The vendors would be able to increase their revenue, and first years would not have to roam around their section hungry as well as sober, subsisting only on popcorn and cotton candy.
Luckily one of my sisters and I were old enough to go into the 19+ section to buy food for ourselves and our 18 year old sister, so none of us went hungry. I couldn’t help thinking that this was likely not the case for many of the first years attending the party, who may not have had anyone older attending the party with them.
Perhaps this was all an elaborate scheme on the part of the AMS to encourage new first year students to befriend older students and persuade them to bring them food onto their side of the fence. Regardless, I was disappointed that the AMS wasn’t a better host to their under 19 guests and hope that next year they will extend more thought to the placement of the food vendors and their impact on all of their guests. Alcohol may not be available to all partygoers, but food certainly should be!