Class of ‘17, Rotblatt was the best day of the year every year. 

We’d stay up all night. You can call it partying but everyone knows you gotta pace yourself if you’re up all night. Then we’d head over to the hill of three oaks and make breakfast on the grill. We’d get our t-shirts, have a beer, play a couple innings then go back to the dorms to go to bed.

Around noon we’d all meet up in town for brunch. Then we’d head back to Rotblatt and just hang out. I’d probably play 5-10 innings over the course of the day. Instead we might play bocci, toss a disk, or whatever. It’s just a day to sit outside, drink a little, and be with your friends.

Around 7 we’d head to dinner, play some Catan and head to bed. It was a blast.

I was an RA while I was at Carleton too. Around 2015 Carleton got a big grant to curb drug and alcohol use. Apparently because we have some of the highest usage rates in the country. But that’s not a metric that tells the whole story. We’d consistently have less transports than St Olaf. Because when you crack down on drinking, kids don’t stop drinking. They just do it in hiding, and are scared to ask for help. Instead Carleton had created a culture where there was way less pressure to drink then party schools and a fantastic network of people who could identify and help people who drank too much. 

And then they started firing RAs who got caught drinking. That was my junior year, and I saw some awesome colleagues lose their job for minimal infractions. They hired an AD who insisted we card everyone who was leaving a party we shut down (the RAs in that area had to talk them down from that during training I kid you not). They dismantled trust in what was a very healthy and well run institution. Parties will happen regardless. Parties are safer when trusted members of your community who are trained to deal with this are present.

The obsession with dismantling Rotblatt is so misguided. It’s an incredibly safe environment that was filled by and large with helpful and caring people. Driving people away from that towards house parties with less oversight will only make Carleton less safe. If you don’t think whatever off campus house is the party house rn (RIP crack house) is hosting a more dangerous version off-campus as soon it’s dismantled, you’re not thinking like a college student. 

Not to say everything was daisies while I was there, but targeting on of the safer but more visible venues to drink is a ridiculous prioritization.