As the old story goes, Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day was created by the bar owners of Champaign as a way to increase revenue by promoting an unofficial student holiday full of binge drinking.

Those business owners have created a holiday filled with underage drinkers, overworked police officers and stressed-out professors.

“There were some serious problems that had happened during past Unofficials and I was getting scared … so I actually had to hire a bouncer,” said Ellen Fireman, professor in statistics.

Fireman described this bouncer as a frightening, large man fully equipped with a walkie-talkie, a flashlight and a “real bouncer attitude.” Fireman’s hired hand inspected book bags before students were allowed in the classroom. Once the lecture began, he patrolled the class to make sure order was kept.

In the 17 years Fireman has been teaching, she has seen everything from drunken fights, to inebriated female students becoming classroom distractions by being overly flirty with male classmates.

More serious scenarios included students passing out during lectures and having to call an ambulance.

This mentality where anything goes on Unofficial has considerably simmered down through the years, as the University has taken a more proactive approach in minimizing risk during the holiday.

“Everything changed once the University stepped up after the tragic incidents resulting in deaths from Unofficial,” Fireman said. “The University now has police standing outside of at-risk classrooms on the Quad or (classes) that take place late in the afternoon to make sure everyone behaves.”

Despite the increase in damage control by the administration, Unofficial is still a huge part of University tradition.

With it generating more buzz on campus than the official St. Patrick’s Day, students aren’t the only ones anticipating Unofficial.

“Teachers are very aware of Unofficial. The University does a good job of informing us professors by sending out emails informing us of it approaching,” said Kyle Gower, lecturer in the department of recreation, sport and tourism.

Without these emails professors receive from the University, they would likely still be able to tell from the spike in walking traffic and the increased rowdiness on campus every first Friday of March.

“At 8 a.m. people are out and about in full force, it is more like what you would expect to see on a college campus at 10 p.m. on a Saturday night,” Gower said.

This liveliness found on the streets of Champaign directly translates to the energy found in the classroom. Katrina Olson, visiting lecturer in advertising, described her classes on Unofficial as “chattier and a little more participative than normal.”

One of Olson’s students, whom she had been wanting to participate in class discussion all semester, finally broke out of her shell on Unofficial thanks to a little liquid confidence.

“There was one student in particular, that as much as a tried I couldn’t get to answer questions or talk to me,” Olson said. “But on Unofficial, she came to class chattier than usual and from that day forward she regularly participated in class discussion.”

Unofficial may be a student holiday, but they aren’t the only ones affected by this University tradition.

Professors generally care about the well-being of students and want them to be safe.

The impact felt by students might be as innocent as that embarrassing text message to an old girlfriend confessing that you still think about her every time you watch “Titanic.” Or it could also be devouring an extra-large stuffed crust pizza at Papa John’s by yourself.

As we have learned from past Unofficials, however, sometimes the consequences can be much more serious.

So when making decisions on Unofficial, students can consider what Gower tells his class at the end of every Thursday lecture: “Be smart and be safe.”

Jed can be reached at [email protected].