While playing Mario Kart with “beer goggles” on was fun, it also taught students who attended the Sherley Booze Cruise a valuable lesson Tuesday night. 

“It is not a good thing to drive drunk,” freshman theater production major Caitlyn Rizzo said. “If I can’t even drive a Mario Kart, then there’s no way I could drive a car drunk.”

Bonnie Hanvey, a Sherley Hall resident assistant, said the purpose of Sherley Booze Cruise was to teach students to drink responsibly. The event was open to all students.

Students could participate in several activities during Booze Cruise, all of which focused on alcohol awareness, Hanvey said.

“We have Mario Kart, and you can wear ‘beer goggles’ with that so that you can see what it is like to drive under the influence,” Hanvey said.

Another activity was a “water pong” trivia game, Hanvey said. Similar to beer pong, students attempted to bounce balls into cups of water. If they were successful, they had to answer trivia questions.

“I really enjoyed the ‘water pong’ trivia game,” freshman business major Christina Miranda said. “I learned that every one minute, someone dies in an alcohol-related car crash.”
Miranda said she thought Sherley Hall should have the Booze Cruise again because it helped raise alcohol awareness.

“I came to the event because I think alcohol awareness is important for teens, especially my age,” she said.

Hanvey said many students have participated in various alcohol awareness activities similar to the Booze Cruise.

“Hopefully, the event will have a positive effect on students drinking alcohol responsibly,” Hanvey said.

However, Rizzo said the university should sponsor more events like the Booze Cruise in the future to help teach students more about alcohol awareness.

“I think it’s good thing that they are trying to be more effective with letting students know about how to safely drink,” Rizzo said.