Below is the letter from the Deglman Hall staff to the Creighton Students’ Union explaining their decision to return questionable gifts.

Mr. McCoy and CSU Executives,

We, the Deglman Hall staff, are grateful for all the hard work that you and the rest of your executives have put into developing gifts for the freshmen class that are attending Creighton for the first time this coming fall semester.

However, we wanted to express our concerns with distributing the coozies to these impressionable students living in our residence hall. The first six weeks of a new student’s time in a residence hall sets the tone for the rest of the year, and as freshman they are extremely susceptible to outside influence. We understand that there was no ill intention in the development of these gifts, however the culture of this generation sees these items as associated with the consumption of alcohol.

Our hesitation mainly stems from the idea that the freshmen are the only residents in our hall that are receiving these gifts. The new individuals coming to campus have particular ideas of what “college” looks like, and the coozies provided continue to enable a positive attitude toward the use of alcohol in underage residence hall space.

We would like to request your permission to not distribute your freshmen gifts, with the consideration that we are doing this out of a place of concern and service to our building’s residents. As a Jesuit and Catholic institution, we all understand the idea of Forming and Educating Agents of Change. This value encourages us to be dedicated to an environment that is safe for fostering growth and providing the humans residing here an atmosphere that is dedicated to learning and development.

We appreciate all of the work that the Creighton Students’ Union does, and we all have taken part in the many fantastic programs that you and your staff put on for the entire university and all of its on-campus residents. Your hard work and dedication to the university does not go unnoticed, and we ask that you continue to serve the students in whatever capacity possible.

We are looking forward to whatever response you provide.

With Grace, Deglman Hall 

Below our columnists discuss CSU’s decision to distribute these koozies.

The Creighton Students Union is proud to call itself the “comprehensive student government on campus.” And it has many reasons to be proud. It oversees a budget of over $750,000 a year and disperses this money to benefit the students that pay to attend Creighton, providing an enriching experience. For the most part, this money is used judiciously to support enriching programs and further the university’s mission.

But just how judicious was it to buy can koozies as a contribution to a gift pack given to all incoming freshmen living in the residence halls? The question is not one of finance; koozies are incredibly cheap. The question is whether any organization wishing to maintain the ideals of this university should distribute something with strong ties to alcohol culture to specifically underage students.

Clearly, the Cortina Community living in Deglman Hall didn’t think so. They respectfully returned the koozies — along with a letter of explanation — to the CSU executive team. The argument they make is convincing, and is one that all campus organizations should consider.

The first few weeks of a new student’s campus experience are very important and tend to set a tone for the rest of the year. New freshmen are already exposed to cultural influences that embrace underage drinking on campus as the norm. Why would we need this idea to be reinforced by any organization that freshmen are told represents them and their interests on campus?

Whether underage drinking is actually the norm at Creighton is irrelevant. It is safe to say that Creighton, as a wet campus, has nothing against the safe and legal consumption of alcohol. Further, there is little it can do to stop unsafe and illegal consumption that occurs outside of its authority. However, the university has specific policies against underage drinking on campus and provides educational tools to encourage smart decision everywhere, at all times. Since CSU falls under the Division of Student Life, it sends the message to students that Creighton is happy to say one thing but do another. It undermines respect for the institution.

It may be reasonably argued that koozies serve just as well to keep a soda cold as anything else. While this is true, it’s hard to deny the strong connotation that exists between koozies and alcohol, much like other products associated with drinking culture. For instance, if an organization were to hand out bottle openers, it’s doubtful many people would be running home to use them to open up their glass bottles of Coca-Cola.

There is little doubt that the leadership behind the purchase of these koozies had only the best of intentions in providing a practical gift to our new freshmen. Unfortunately, this gift unintentionally provided an undesirable first impression of what Creighton stands for and how it operates. Reducing a student’s perception of extracurricular life at Creighton to a koozie is disingenuous to the hard work of many other groups and organizations on campus. Hopefully people will use this as a reminder that their organizations’ actions are extensions of the university, and should try to live up to its values.

Editor’s Note: This article was written by both Austin Spillane and Dominic Dongilli