"I wish I had done it. It's my biggest regret," fourth-year College student Dan Wilson said.
He was not talking about taking his University coursework more seriously over the years, or selecting a different major. Wilson was talking about drinking the fourth-year fifth.
But some students are hoping to end the so-called rite of passage, which calls for fourth-year studentsto mark the last home football game of their undergraduate careers by consuming a fifth of liquor by the end of the game. Despite the "tradition" label, some students at Saturday's home closer against Buffalo said attempting to consume 17 shots of liquor in one afternoon is inane.
"Just because something is a tradition doesn't mean it's a good idea," one fourth-year student said. "Not all traditions are on the same level. There's [streaking] the Lawn, and then there's the fourth-year fifth."
But other students said the fourth-year fifth is just as substantial of a tradition as running naked through the Academical Village.
"The fourth-year fifth is the best tradition U.Va. has ever offered," fourth-year College student Cameron Cox said.
To discourage students from participating, a group of fourth years from the Class of 2000 Trustees and the Greek system formed a group called Fourth-Years Ending Stupid Traditions. FEST sponsored a pledge drive at Saturday's game, offering free sodas and raffle tickets to fourth years who agreed not to drink the fifth.
"When you're a first year or a second year, [the fourth-year fifth] is just a stupid tradition that people do," FEST Committee Director Luke Mitchell said. "But when you're a fourth year, it's your friends putting their lives in jeopardy."
Despite FEST's efforts, many students said they tried to drink a fifth.
Student Council President Taz Turner said he was not sure whether he drank an entire fifth, but that he did drink an excessive amount of alcohol at the game.
Turner said the tradition is senseless but "at this stage in our lives students ... should be responsible enough to make that decision" on their own. He said he did not sign one of the pledge cards.
Still, FEST's soda stand at the game stayed busy through the fourth quarter, and over 1,000 fourth years signed the pledge, Mitchell said.
Some students said they signed the pledge to show that drinking a fifth of liquor in one afternoon is unwise.
"I think it's fine if people want to drink responsibly, but I don't think it's smart to drink a fifth of alcohol just to participate in a tradition," fourth-year Commerce student Catherine Oddenino said.
Wilson said the fourth-year fifth is only a small facet of a larger drinking culture at the University.
"All of college is [about] binge drinking," he said. "I mean, come on."
Although most students can not pinpoint when the fourth-year fifth tradition began, 1985 College graduate Mark Smith said drinking has been a harmless aspect of University life for decades.
"I think college is a time when you can do whatever you want to do," Smith said. "If this is a tradition students have adopted, they should be able to do it."
He said he drank the fifth when he was a fourth year, and doing so was hardly criticized in the 1980s.
Despite scrutiny in recent years, the tradition will be difficult to eliminate, he added.
"I think it's kind of hard to stop [students from drinking] when the alumni are across the way gunning it down," Smith said. Alcohol is not allowed inside Scott Staduim, but it is permitted in some surrounding parking lots where many alumni tailgate.
Security officials at the game were aware of the fourth-year fifth, but did not keep watch for public drunkenness any more than usual, said C. Hockman, a University Police officer who patrols near the student gate.
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