THIS WEEKEND, University students will gather for that most revered and anticipated of spring traditions: the Foxfield races. They will come from near and far; indeed some attendees will come from other universities, as well as from the local community. They will assemble dressed in all their newly purchased seersucker duds and gleaming new sundresses in a field, ostensibly to watch a horse race, the most genteel of activities. And then, if tradition holds, they will all get properly intoxicated. Therein lies the puzzling paradox of this University tradition. Students come dressed to the nines in order to demonstrate precisely how classy they can appear, and then proceed to ruin this image of gentility through the media of sunburn and Southern Comfort. In doing so, students who choose to drink to excess at Foxfield demonstrate that they lack the very maturity and class they work so hard to project.
Students take Foxfield very seriously on one level. We see this in the traffic that will clog the roads out of Charlottesville on the day of the races. We see it in the time and energy and money used in acquiring a plot for the race itself. We see it through the time and expense put forth into acquiring new clothes, whether a light-colored suit, or pastel pants, or a new sundress and oversized hat. Foxfield is, in essence, the University's largest spring semi-formal gathering, with everyone seeking to look their best before getting wasted.
We know also that people are going to get hammered, no matter what all the University officials may advise, and no matter how many precautions are taken, or incentives offered. We know this because of the efforts made in publicizing facilities for dealing with the effects of drunkenness. On the Lawn and throughout University buildings, signs hang advertising the locations of water stations, and encouraging students to serve as designated drivers with the inducement of free pizza and soda. These signs implore students to drink water and not to ride home with drunk drivers. Most importantly, and most tellingly, they give the location of emergency first-aid stations. The very fact that the community knows that it must be prepared for the negative effects of an afternoon at Foxfield tells us something about the nature of the event.
It also tells us that no matter how grown up and mature students may portray themselves on the way to the races, this appearance is only an illusion. The advertisement for water tells us that students are not capable on their own of realizing their dehydration. But while dehydration is an understandable problem and can easily pass undetected, other problems loom larger. The need to encourage designated drivers suggests that students are not mature enough to decide amongst themselves that someone should probably remain sober enough to drive everyone back. Equally troubling is the expectation that some students will cause themselves serious enough harm that they will need some sort of emergency first-aid, whether from extreme dehydration or heat stroke, or worse, alcohol poisoning or an alcohol-related accident. The anticipation that emergency services will be needed and therefore, must be readily available, speaks volumes about the sorts of behavior we have come to expect from Foxfield.
It should be said that intoxication at Foxfield is no morally better or worse than intoxication at any other time or place. It simply presents a more stark contrast between the image and maturity students cultivate in their appearance and preparatory efforts and the net results of the afternoon. Foxfield is wide open, in the middle of a field. It also takes place during the day. These features make one's behavior apparent to all, instead of to a select few in a house party at night. Also, as previously stated, the contrast between the classiness of one's apparel and behavior is heightened at Foxfield.
Thus, Foxfield provides a stark, sad reminder for students that no matter how mature we consider ourselves, nor how gentlemanly or ladylike an image we seek to project, the ultimate measurement of one's character is not how one looks, but how one behaves. Foxfield serves as a yearly reminder that for all the pretenses we make to adulthood and appropriate behavior, in many ways the student body as a whole remains woefully childish.
Robby Colby's column usually appears Thursdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at rcolby@cavalierdaily.com.
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