Professional Drinking

Life in business school is as much about the socialization and networking as it is about the academics. There is no better place to practice your interpersonal skills, and sometimes in that endeavor, we fail miserably. I am willing to put my own head on the block as example. My blogs may sound eloquent, wise and worldly (stop laughing), but in person I have a 50/50 chance of having chronic foot-in-mouth disease. I’m not sure what it is about the censure function in my brain, but I recently told a very pretty, fair-skinned friend of mine that she needs to get more sun. She’s a gorgeous red-head, and I’m a boob. It just bursts forth… an attempt to be clever or witty… comes out as "Grade A" schmuck. (I still feel bad about that, R)

That is one of the reasons why Owen is such a great place to study. It is not just about the education, but also the experimentation of self. I’m not going to get better at this unless I try, fail, get back up, and try again. The only big hurdle remaining is the recognition of the mistake itself. This brings me around to a recent event that has been troubling me since it happened…

A few days ago, Owen held a golf outing. If I understand it correctly, the outing was sponsored by the student associations, and students, faculty and staff were invited to participate. One aspect of the function involved alcohol, a not uncommon factor in business school. A more than generous allotment was provided for each group. Unfortunately, I think some of my fellow students understood this generosity as license to act like Neanderthals.

That being said (bluntly) I should extend my credentials a bit. I used to run a resort in Maine. That resort had a golf course, which I miss dearly. I am certainly biased in favor of golf course owners everywhere… At the same time, I am not against alcohol…especially on golf courses. I championed a bill in Maine to allow alcohol sales on golf courses. (LD 656, and LD 290 for those of you extra-curricular readers) The point isn’t to brag on myself, but to dismiss any notion that I am a prude. I drink. Sometimes I drink too much, but there are certain lines that I do not cross.

So you are thinking “What’s the big deal, a little yelling and hollering? Get over it!” … Well, it wasn’t just noise, it was destruction and mayhem (carts, greens, trees and people). I left embarrassed, and concerned for the reputation of Owen. The line was crossed. “How?”, “Who was it?”, “What did they do?”, “Prove it!”… That’s not the point.  I don’t need to name them, or their actions, to tell you it was wrong. There’s an easy test… If someone had videoed them in action, put a nice label on it that read “Owen Orientation 2008”, and put it on YouTube… Owen students would be embarrassed… and pissed. When a recruiter comes to campus after seeing such antics, do you think they will see you, or the jerk on the golf course? It was base behavior… self indulgence, selfishness, and unprofessionalism. The a$$&*(e  tri-fecta.

Of course at this point it doesn’t matter… the damage is done, right? Not really. The problem is that this behavior permeates. It slithers along, and grows. It isn’t hard to picture this behavior working its way into our social networking events. It doesn’t take many idiots to wreak havoc. I am certain it was less than 5% of the whole group – less than 1% of the entire Owen population that caused such a mess.

Here is the bottom line: We the students of Owen, are not going to tolerate it. If you want to have 6, and go play chicken with a train…  do it on your own time. You are not entitled to borrow the name Owen whilst you do it. If you were one of the few, and are still not listening… if you are a real block head… if you feel red in the face and feel personally attacked… unfairly judged… Good. You deserve it. You represented us, and you let us down. Time to grow up. You screwed up, and fell down… now get back up, and learn something from it.

The community here at Owen is special. You know that as soon as you walk through the door. We work hard, we play hard, but we don’t cross that line. Outside of school, you can drink and be stupid all you like… you might find me sitting next to you acting even more stupid (and I might be sober doing it)… but don’t think for a minute we are going to let you continue dragging Owen into the hole you are digging for yourself. ”Who the hell am I?”, “Where do I get off telling other students how to behave?”… I’m a Owen student, I’m a blogger… and today, I have the pen.

 

Comments

[Owen Student]

Great post! I think you've managed to capture the sentiments of most students really well.

[Owen Student]

I tend to disagree. While I think the message is a good one for current students of Owen, I think this is a really inappropriate post for a site that is seen by both prospective students and recruiters. Sending the message that Owen students are "self-indulgent, selfish, and unprofessional" out into the world only tarnishes the reputation of the school and the "special community" you speak of.

[Owen Student]

This seems like more of a personal matter that should have been handled with a private conversation with the select few golfers that you speak of. I think that it is naive and inappropriate of you to portray an isolated event as something that is entirely representative of this student body. Furthermore, Owen elects a student government to handle disciplinary actions should they be warranted, thus relieving you of this duty. For you to post this on the World Wide Web does your class and this school a great disservice as it paints a highly visible picture of an "unprofessional" community that simply isn't the case. I doubt very much that if the golf club you managed had experienced an isolated disruption with a member that they would have posted it on the internet or in the local paper. Instead, they would have exercised decorum and spoken with individual(s) directly. I would encourage you to remember that he who carries the pen also carries a great responsibility. You are in a business school, and therefore need to make business-minded decisions that do not negatively impact the goodwill of the institution.

[Jared - Chief Executive Officer of OwenBloggers.com]

On behalf of the executive team at OwenBloggers, I want to address two things with respect to the comments on this post.

First, every OwenBlogger is held to the same standards of content. These standards include articulating an unedited and uncensored life at Owen in a professional manner and in the context of the Owen experience.

The author of this post went to lengths to consult with the OwenBloggers executive team about his views and so we stand by his right to post his views as long as they adhere to those standards of content.

Second, and I cannot stress this point enough, OwenBloggers.com is a conversation. If the Owen community feels like the points made in this or any other post are inaccurate or un-reflective of what life is like here at Owen, they are invited to join the conversation by posting comments or by submitting their own guest post through the executive team at owenbloggers@gmail.com.

We only request that the posts and the conversation at large remain professional and relevant to making Owen a better place.

Again, the author of this post is a fully-credentialed OwenBlogger whose intent of this post was spark a conversation on a relevant topic. Any questions to the contrary of him or any other OwenBlogger should come directly to the executive team in a manner – like some of the commenters have suggested – is more direct.

Sincerely,
Jared
Chief Executive Officer
OwenBloggers.com

[Owen Student]

so you want owenbloggers to start a conversation, but on your terms where the professional comments left above are actually not posted but sent in an e-mail to you in a more direct manner?interesting.

next time think about your fellow students, their future internships and jobs and the recruiters they have to deal with before you write a post. feel free to criticize but try to be constructive, not destructive, your angry statements are better served if they are actually said to the few who upset you not the masses

[Owen Student]

From the way some of the commenters are trying to justify their behavior, I would guess that the post hit a nerve that is more true than it is derogatory to the school.

[first year]

As one of the individuals who may have... well, did act inappropriately, I feel as though I should respond. First of all, let me tell you how very proud I am of you for championing the bills to allow alcohol sales on golf courses. You are a truly a world shaper.
Second of all, although some lines may have been crossed, you exaggerate the repercussions. This was not an event filled with recruiters and alumni. 99% of the people there were students. And probably 99% of the people at the course were from Owen. This was not really a public event where we were representing ourselves to others. This was for all intents and purposes a closed school event.
You may think yourself not a prude for drinking sometimes, others may feel jumping in a lake is appropriate under certain circumstances.
But as someone who is posting something on the internet for the first (and probably last) time, I would like to say that your true motivation of self praise hidden in accusations of others is less than honorable. I'm glad you championed bills and ran a golf course. But I still am not convinced you would be fun to hang out with for 18 holes...