Before going to Scott Stadium and cheering the Cavaliers to victory over Maryland on Saturday, many students participated in events aimed to deter them from drinking the fourth-year fifth.
In the fourth-year fifth, as tradition goes, fourth-year students attempt to drink four-fifths of a liter of alcohol before their final home football game.
Events geared toward preventing the continuation of this tradition included the 11th annual Fourth-Year 5K, which included more than 400 runners, and a free tailgate in the Amphitheater.
With specific statistics still unavailable, however, it remains unclear whether the Fourth-Year 5K and subsequent tailgate had any impact on the number of students partaking in the fourth-year fifth.
"Judging from emergency room visits, very few people did it," Student Health Executive Director Jim Turner said.
In 1997, seven students went to the emergency room as a result of the fourth-year fifth. This year, a preliminary count reports only one student at the hospital who tried to drink a fifth of alcohol.
The Fourth-Year 5K has become a tradition before the last home football game of the season. This year, University President John T. Casteen III presented awards to fourth-year winners, Tom Ellis and Katie Houghey, after the third quarter of the game.
Proceeds from the Fourth-Year 5K go to the Leslie Baltz Fund. Baltz was a University student who died in a 1997 drinking-related accident on the day of that season's last home football game.
Many groups and organizations around Grounds sponsored events to discourage students from consuming the fourth-year fifth, including Peer Health Educators, Office of Health Promotion, Fourth-Year Trustees, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Team and the Center for Substance Abuse Education.
"It was a pretty big collaborative effort," according to third-year College student Vicky Jones, who helped organize the Fourth-Year 5K.
ADAPT and CASE sponsored a pre-game tailgate in the Amphitheater, the culminating event of the University's Alcohol Awareness Week. The event, which drew three times more students than last year, featured food, music and provided fourth years the opportunity to sign a pledge promising not to attempt the fourth-year fifth.
It was "a healthy way to celebrate," CASE Assistant Director Marianne Bonday said.
"It was so successful that it ran out of food," Alumni Association Associate Director Jason Life added.
The number of race participants also may have increased from past years. Although officials still are determining the exact number of runners in this year's 5K, last year's race, held Dec. 1, 2001, drew 442 runners, up from 251 runners from the previous year.
The race attracted underclassmen, faculty and community members as well.
"I think it was a good turnout," said Allison Laine, a fourth-year College student and race participant. "I saw some of my second-year friends out running it as well."
Some students said the race may not have deterred less people from drinking than in past years, because of the game's 5:30 p.m. kickoff time.
"To tell you the truth, I know some people who did both," Laine said. "Maybe if the game had been at noon as in the past, it would have been more of an alternative."
Fourth-year College student Sarah Witt expressed similar sentiments.
"I think it was definitely more of an alternative in the past when the game was earlier, but I think it deterred a lot of people from drinking because they had to get up earlier," Witt said.
Witt and others said they were pleased they decided to brave the cold, enjoying the opportunity to bond with fellow fourth years.
"I thought it would be fun because a lot of my other fourth-year friends were doing it," she said.
Based on responses to Student Health surveys, which students complete each spring, officials hope more students are beginning to choose healthier alternatives to the fourth-year fifth.
"From last year's survey, the number of students attempting [the fourth-year fifth] is going down," Bonday said. "We hope that's a trend that will continue to rise."
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