Congrats, Penn State. We're the No. 3 party school.
Compared to other universities, we know how to throw a party the right way, how to invent our own drinking holiday and how to tailgate better than anyone.
I wish that we weren't so proud of that title. I wish that we spent our nights trying to do better things with our time than throwing back shots. I see Penn State as a place for great potential. And I see evidence of that in stories of men such as Bill Pickle.
I'm sure few students know that one of their favorite late-night haunts -- Bill Pickle's Tap Room, 106 S. Allen St. -- is named after a bootlegger who decided to dedicate his life to improving students' lives.
In the 1890s, William "Bill Pickle" Gilliland was working as a janitor at Penn State. On the side, he was supplying alcohol to the 1,400 students who lived in a small, boondocks town where saloons were banned -- State College, Pa.
One historian called Penn State "the most godless university in the country" during this time.
The Penn State football team won few games, but the tailgating scene before and after was as rambunctious as it was this past Saturday. Penn State students even initiated a class strike that stressed relations between the student body and administration.
Pickle was one of the main sources of the godlessness.
Then, in 1911, Pickle met Frank Buchman, founder of the Moral Re-Armament, who befriended the bootlegger. The unusual friendship between the two men influenced Pickle to become a Christian, to stop drinking, and to convince students to do the same.
Penn State is a school where drinking is a staple of every weekend, and weeknights as well, hence the No. 3 party spot.
But where we are now is a result of where we have been. This university has been on a roller coaster of change throughout its 100-plus years of learning and partying.
Pickle's story of change from bootlegger to revolutionary is an example of a positive change in State College. Along with Buchman, Pickle was a part of movement in the early 1900s that saw hundreds of students joining Bible studies and doing service projects.
The topic of alcohol is not a new one at Penn State by any stretch of the imagination. But the story of Pickle, and his change, struck a chord with me.
Some of us at Penn State don't drink. Actually, a lot of us don't. This column isn't meant to debate drinking versus non-drinking. I simply see alcohol as a distraction to the better things in life.
On the Tap Room's Web site, it describes Pickle as a local legend. "During his lifetime, he became known across America and Europe as a shining example of a reformed person 'gone good,' " it says.
Pickle may have been known as the cool guy who supplied alcohol. But after joining with Buchman, he influenced hundreds of students' lives, for the better.
Revel in our No. 3 spot if you wish. I just wish we were prouder of doing better things like changing people's lives.
Penn State is one of the biggest influences in the United States. You can find a Penn State alumn anywhere you look. We have the potential to do amazing things as graduates of this university, to change our campus and to change our world, if we can get over getting smashed.
Jessica Turnbull is a senior majoring in journalism and is The Daily Collegian's Friday columnist. Her e-mail address is jlt5044@psu.edu.
