Dear fellow U of I students,

As I’m sure the vast majority of you are aware, Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day was created by bar owner Scott Cochrane.

Mr. Cochrane assures us that he created it as a means for students to celebrate their Irish heritage.

However, if that is what he meant, I question the decision to have his bars open at 11 a.m. Does celebration of your Irish heritage require that you be intoxicated so early in the day? If your answer to that question is yes, then I urge you to reconsider what it really means to be Irish.

In fact, something tells me that the impetus behind the whole idea was a little more profit-minded than Mr. Cochrane would tell you.

In light of that, I’d like to inform you that Unofficial is not a holiday at all. It is nothing more than an excuse for the bars to exploit you.

We already have a day for celebrating Irish heritage: it’s called St. Patrick’s Day, and it’s on March 17th. The purpose of Unofficial is private profit – no more, and no less.

Scott Cochrane has effectively fooled some of you into thinking you NEED to drink excessively this weekend for the sake of some made up “tradition.” I hope you all have this in mind if and when you plan to throw your cash at him and his competitors this weekend and on future Unofficials.

Your friend,

Matt Wash