Red solo cups have become synonymous with underage drinking parties, especially on college campuses. The ubiquitous red party cups imply alcohol and have developed a cultural reputation through songs and campus myths. While red cups themselves are not banned, resident assistants say the cups often indicate an alcohol violation if other signs like smell or visible alcohol are present. The cups have permanently placed themselves as THE party accessory in American youth culture despite originally being intended to hide alcohol consumption.
Red solo cups have become synonymous with underage drinking parties, especially on college campuses. The ubiquitous red party cups imply alcohol and have developed a cultural reputation through songs and campus myths. While red cups themselves are not banned, resident assistants say the cups often indicate an alcohol violation if other signs like smell or visible alcohol are present. The cups have permanently placed themselves as THE party accessory in American youth culture despite originally being intended to hide alcohol consumption.
Red solo cups have become synonymous with underage drinking parties, especially on college campuses. The ubiquitous red party cups imply alcohol and have developed a cultural reputation through songs and campus myths. While red cups themselves are not banned, resident assistants say the cups often indicate an alcohol violation if other signs like smell or visible alcohol are present. The cups have permanently placed themselves as THE party accessory in American youth culture despite originally being intended to hide alcohol consumption.
Red solo cups have become synonymous with underage drinking parties, especially on college campuses. The ubiquitous red party cups imply alcohol and have developed a cultural reputation through songs and campus myths. While red cups themselves are not banned, resident assistants say the cups often indicate an alcohol violation if other signs like smell or visible alcohol are present. The cups have permanently placed themselves as THE party accessory in American youth culture despite originally being intended to hide alcohol consumption.
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NEWARK, DE- Keg? Check. Pingpong table? Check. Music? Check. Cups? Check. But not just any cups, Red Cups, the cultural phenomenon that seems to have permanently placed itself in college and most underage drinking scenes in America. The party accessory has become such a prevalent image in youth culture, and here at the University of Delaware, it has even created its own campus urban myth within our dorms. Every freshmen on campus has at some point in time heard of the forbidden red cup myth, and might even have cringed when hearing that telltale RA knock at their door while sipping out of one. But why Red Cups? Why not blue? How did it form a monopoly so strong as THE party cup that it has its own song written about it (Red Solo Cup by country artist Toby Keith)?
Jackie Agliata, a junior elementary education major, thinks they
are more than just a cheap cup now. I definitely think people buy them for a specific purpose now, she said. They really have their own reputation, which kind of sucks because they are just a very inexpensive cup, but at the same time I think that they imply a lot. Its basically the equivalent of holding a tequila bottle in your hand. These cups have become such a common occurrence at underage parties that they work against their original purpose, which is to hide the alcohol. Rachel Strauss, an RA in central and a junior English professional writing major, has one theory on how these cups have become so prevalent. It definitely started as teenagers trying so hard to hide their alcohol and in doing so they all picked up this same idea, she said, but then that kind of caught on. Every year when a new batch of nervous freshmen walk onto campus, they are warned to never let an RA see a red cup near them, even if it contains no alcohol. Amanda Smith, a freshman living in the new dorms on East Campus, remembers when she first heard of this threat on her first day at UD. I was so scared when I first heard that, I made my mom bring all my cups back home with her, she recounted. Despite this prevalent rumor, however, Joe-Luis Riera, the Dean of Students at the Office of Student Conduct, clarified that the cups themselves are not banned from on-campus housing. He explained that red solo cups are not considered apparatus that promotes the rapid drinking of alcohol, which the Student Conduct Handbook states as forbidden from dorms. These apparatuses includes things such as funnels, Pingpong balls, and drinking memorabilia, but nothing specifically related to Red Cups are mentioned. I think where red solo cups become an issue is that they are naturally perceived to be associated with alcohol consumption on college campuses and elsewhere, Riera explained. So, if other signs are present (e.g. alcohol, scent of alcohol, etc.) they can be used to substantiate the reality of an alcohol violation. And many resident assistants agree with this statement. Ariana Haidari, an alumnus who graduated last year with a Dietetics degree, was an upper-classmen RA in Brown Hall for two years. I think that if I saw them all set out I would immediately be alerted, you know, she said. I would probably be trying to look for other clues in the room.
Haidari said being an upperclassmen RA, she never encountered
a situation like this in the dorms, because a large majority of her residents were of age. Alex Schilder, however, is a freshmen RA in Thompson and has been put in this situation a few separate times. Usually the red cups are accompanied by the strong smell of alcohol, he said. I think thats where the myth comes from, because a lot of the time we do end up writing them up when they have the cups, because they are using it for alcohol purposes. Despite the confusion surrounding the rules on these cups, they continue to have a strong presence in drinking scene on campus. As Masha Edmondson, an Environmental Science major here at UD, said: They remind me of beer and bad decisions.