Red Solo Cup, I Fill You

Up, Lets Have a Party

By Katie Desmond
Staff Reporter

(Photo taken from http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000012882200mah5bw-original.jpg?435a760)

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.