Game plan

Whether this is your first, last, or somewhere in-between time celebrating Unofficial, make sure you think things out beforehand and come up with a sensible strategy for conducting yourself.

If you’re getting up at the crack of dawn for “kegs ‘n’ eggs,” remember to pace yourself and stay hydrated. Safely enjoy as much of Unofficial as you can by not passing out before 12 p.m.  

If you have classes, quizzes, exams or work, save the revelry for afterwards. As much as it may suck to be stuck sitting in your 8 a.m. while all your friends are having a good time, in the long-term, the grade is going to matter more than the utility of getting drunk a few hours earlier. 

If you’re underage and plan to drink, be rational. A lot of the policies that apply to Unofficial are explicitly skewed toward deterring underage drinking. Read up on the rules and understand the consequences if you get caught. 

If you don’t plan to drink, you can still get in on the festivities. Unofficial is a great day to go people watching, just make sure to watch where you step. You can also serve as an invaluable resource to your intoxicated friends by keeping them company and steering them away from trouble. 

Guests

Much of the backlash against Unofficial has less to do with the over consumption of alcohol and more to do with the people it attracts. 

Year after year, a high ratio of the tickets are issued to non-University students over students who live on this campus. Many of these individuals, invited by their friends at the University, have little investment in our campus or the surrounding community and have been a source of property damage in the past. Do your part by discouraging your out-of-town compadres from reckless behavior or not inviting them in the first place. In the end, most of these non-students and their ill actions serve to make us look bad. 

Additionally, the University has a strict no-guest policy that it will be enforcing in a variety of places, especially the dorms and dining halls. Police have been known to be present around dorm entrances, checking for I-Cards. Furthermore, the dining halls have instructed their staffs to deny entrance to individuals that lack i-Cards. Furthermore, RA’s step their game up for Unofficial and tend to be pretty good at discovering non-University visitors.

Worst-case scenarios

There are a couple of common, less-than-ideal situations you might find yourself or your companions in on Unofficial: heavily intoxicated and busted by the cops or your RA in University Housing buildings. 

If you come across someone passed out who is visibly heavily intoxicated, call for help. It’s both the right thing to do, and you are unlikely to face punitive action for doing so, per the Medical Amnesty and Good Samaritan policy passed by the Urbana-Champaign Senate last Spring, individuals who seek help for medically impaired individuals, stay with the individual and cooperate with first-responders will not be subject to discipline under the University’s Conduct System. And while there is no state-wide policy, the University, Urbana and Champaign police departments all adhere to an informal policy of medical amnesty.

If your party gets raided or you otherwise end up face-to-face with a police officer, remember to remain polite, cooperative and don’t flee. If the police request to search your residence, you are allowed to politely decline; you also may (graciously) decline to answer their questions. 

Rules are a little different for RAs; they are allowed to inspect University property within your room, but cannot investigate your personal belongings or furnishings. However, keeping the alcohol and party out of your dorm room is often the best course of action anyway.

Despite these cautions, Unofficial can be a shamrockin’ good time. Just remember to keep your celebrations safe and sensible, so you may eventually see another while you attend the University.