College Students Playing Wine-Chugging Game Face Serious Consequences

The ongoing controversy surrounding Wesleyan's annual box-wine-chugging / scavenger hunt, known as Tour de Franzia, hit the national stage this week after the story was picked up by Gawker's online feminist blog Jezebel.

The popular, one-night event consists of teams of students, each drinking a 5-liter box of Franzia wine as fast as they can, while running around campus completing wacky tasks like "whole team in a tree," "being ironic in WesCo" and "getting undressed on a dresser," according to the student-run blog Wesleying.

For the second year in a row, Wesleyan University's administration has appealed to parents of students about "this problematic campus event," according to an email sent April 11 by Dean Michael Whaley, vice president for student affairs, encouraging them to talk with their children.

Whaley's email to parents reads:

The so-called "Tour de Franzia" has surfaced at Wesleyan in recent years and it has been fraught with dangerous problems. It has been impossible for us to identify the students who organize the event because it is publicized and promoted via an anonymous Facebook account. We need your help in talking with your student about the very real dangers associated with the event, as well as the significant judicial consequences that participants will face. I hope you will help us to discourage participation in this dangerous activity."

What's more, Whaley's email to students takes a stern position on anyone participating in the event. It says even those who refrain from drinking face serious consequences, including suspension and exclusion from commencement activities. 

" ...students who choose to participate in any way (even if not drinking) will face judicial charges. We have consulted with the SJB concerning the sanctions that students should expect, and have determined that typical participants in the Tour will be assigned a minimum of 6 judicial points. Students should be warned that those who have already accrued points as well as those who engage in egregious behavior during the Tour may face immediate suspension (loss of tuition and this semester’s work). Seniors who participate in the Tour will be prohibited from participating in commencement."
Students were also notified by emails targeting various groups, such as the Class of 2013, Class of 2014, the Jewish community, 2014 Class Council and university staff, according to Wesleying.

Some parents are siding with their Wesleyan students on the issue, including Leslie Yager, community manager for Fairfield County, including Greenwich Patch, whose daughter Cameron Dawson is a Class of 2014 student at Wesleyan University.

"It rubbed me the wrong way to get an email from Wesleyan administration asking me to tell my kid not to participate in this tradition. My daughter has never been in trouble. I consider her an adult and I trust her judgement," Yager said.

Dawson sent out four Tweets on Twitter in quick succession on April 16, which were featured on Jezebel:

• "mother emailing me tips to avoid arrest during the tour #parentingdoneright" 
• 'my dad forwarded me Whaley's tour de franzia email with the message attached 'Ella — if you enter this event, I EXPECT YOU TO WIN."   
  

Appealing to parents of Wesleyan students for help encouraging their children not to take part in the drunken festival, Whaley said last year according to Wesleying, was "for parents who shared the same set of concerns to be able have a conversation with their kids during Spring Break or at some point afterwards." 

A 5-liter box of Franzia contains, Whaley said, contains 42 drinks and "many who have participated have been dangerously drunk as they were running around campus and crossing busy streets," Wesleying reported. 

"A dramatic number of students required hospitalization for acute intoxication or injuries, flooding the emergency room at Middlesex Hospital and disrupting its normal operation," Wesleying reported Whaley as saying in an interview ahead of last year's Tour de Franzia.

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