In 'first' 21-only weekend, students turn to house parties
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It's Friday night, 10:15. Fifteen polished freshman women are walking sorority-style, three-across and five-deep, down Burlington Street, stopping to readjust their positions in the group each time people come from the opposite direction.
It's their first weekend of college, and these freshmen are looking for a party. Any party.
They have been walking around Iowa City for an hour and a half, eagerly following every person who mentions a potential place to go, only to get kicked out when it's revealed they're underage.
Their feet are hurt, and their egos are bruised.
"This isn't college; this is high school," the comedian of the group says, who did not want to be named because she is underage. "Actually, no. I partied more in high school."
If they could go to the bars, they would.
Four officers patrolled the bustling Pedestrian Mall on Aug. 20, a presence that police amplified in preparation for UI students' first weekend with the 21-ordinance.
The University of Iowa's social life has long been dominated by the bar scene, with more than 30 bars near campus. Until June 1, 19- and 20-year-olds were welcome.
But with the new ordinance, underage students back need find other sources of entertainment. Being caught in a bar underaged can bring $750 in fines and fees, and another $335 can be tacked on to that if they person is seen with alcohol. Add another $195 if they have a fake ID.
At any given street corner, students were scattered in groups with lost looks on their faces, trying to pin down a house party.
Last weekend would have marked the year that 19-year-old UI sophomore Matt Taylor would have been able to enter the bars legally, and he's disheartened about not being able to go.
"The thing about a bar is it doesn't pigeonhole crowds," he said.
A blond 18-year-old, sitting on a couch and holding a mixed drink of Crush and UV Pink Lemonade, said a bar's appeal isn't necessarily the drinking — "it's the atmosphere."
"I got my fake ID because of the 21-ordinance," she said, wishing to remain anonymous. She's just waiting to use it.
And police said they believe she's not the only one.
Even though freshmen and sophomores bemoaned the ordinance this weekend, the students seem to be taking the 21-ordinance seriously.
"The watch commanders have already told me that overall attendance downtown is much less [than in previous years]," said Iowa City Police Chief Sam Hargadine said.
This past weekend Iowa City police cited three people for having fake IDs and wrote seven tickets for keeping a disorderly house. Eight underage people were caught in a bar after 10 p.m.
The police said bars that consistently drew lines in previous years — such as Brothers, 3rd Base, and the Summit — looked to have modest attendance this week.
"Response from the community has been somewhat appreciative of the ordinance," said Iowa City police Officer Rob Cash, one of on-duty downtown officers on Aug. 21.
Lt. Mike Brotherton, the late-night watch commander, said he observed crowds around the town had decreased significantly — by at least 50 percent.
"A lot of kids are doing the wait-and-see," Cash said. Police believe that once students have experienced the ordinance for a month or two, they will take a shot at entering bars, thinking there won't be as much enforcement.
So for now, house parties seem to many students like the next best thing.
And by Aug. 21, it becomes painfully obvious that underage weekend plans are at the mercy of others. That night, another group of pretty under-21 women were reliant on friends of friends and their older friends' house parties.
The women start texting around 9 p.m., and by 11 p.m., they had solidified a plan: a nearby apartment party on Gilbert Street.
At 11:06, Lil' Wayne and Young Weezy reverberated from box speakers in the background. Eight people sat around the living room playing a drinking game . Four people sipped Bud Lights, playing water pong.
The house party may not have been the bar nights former freshmen experienced years prior, but it would have to do.
DI reporter Alison Sullivan contributed to this report.
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