If you were walking or driving downtown this past Saturday, you were probably overrun by a sea of students dressed as bananas. These bananas, which are not a common sight in downtown Clemson, were part of the Banana Bar Crawl.

Started in Canadian universities by MOSEA, a marketing agency,, the Banana Bar Crawl was inspired by a viral TikTok and has since gathered North American notoriety, even partnering with Happy Dad and Barstool Sports. The Banana Bar Crawl is an event where people sign up, buy tickets, receive a banana costume and then hit the town at a specified time.

With the large number of students projected to be at the bars in downtown Clemson, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division saw a golden opportunity to “protect” the community from underage drinking, and multiple students in Banana costumes received infractions for underage drinking. But this recent SLED visit has made me call into question the value of SLED and other anti-underage drinking measures.

Due to the lack of city and university-provided locations for underage students to gather and meet new people over the weekend, it seems to me that Clemson creates a situation that coerces students to engage in underage drinking.

With the closing and demolition of the student union, there is a severe lack of institutions that foster social growth, as going downtown does. Yes, you could always go out to eat or stay home and do something with your friends. But that requires an already established group.

You could join a club, but how many clubs are hosting consistent activities over the weekend? This all creates a loop, however, because what are you supposed to do with your friends who aren’t getting food or hanging out in the dorms or apartments if you are underage?

There are no bowling alleys, mini golf, arcades or trampoline parks. I think students, both of age and underage, would frequent these locations and even choose them over downtown. All of these activities are outside of the city of Clemson and require cars to access. So what locations in Clemson are accessible without cars and are within walking distance for every single freshman?

If you said the bars, you would be right.

The sheer lack of activities in Clemson that do not involve getting food, hiking or drinking creates an environment that coerces underage students into drinking due to the lack of other ways to meet new people and establish a social group.

Then, law enforcement decides to increase measures to “prevent” underage drinking. All these methods do, however, is catch students who were coerced to engage in this behavior by lack of any other social events.

Jack Kinder is a junior sociology major from Ocala, Florida. Jack can be reached at [email protected].