In a move perfectly designed to conjure "Animal House" jokes, James E. Wright, President of Dartmouth College, signed the Amethyst Initiative. This petition, introduced this summer by John McCardell, President Emeritus of Middlebury College, is designed to "reopen public debate over the drinking age." So far 129 college and university presidents have added their John Hancocks to this measure to curb binge drinking by maybe getting kids to start drinking earlier.

Though Dartmouth is the only Ivy on a list of signatories that includes schools as disparate as Hampshire College, Duke University and SUNY Purchase, UPenn President Amy Gutmann agrees the drinking age should be lowered to 18. Why didn't she sign the petition? The Daily Pennsylvanian will answer that:

Gutmann did not sign the initiative because she has not seen conclusive evidence confirming its claim that the higher drinking age causes increased levels of binge drinking

So why is Gutmann in favor of lowering the drinking age, if not to stop young people from drinking? Well, Gutmann--by way of the Daily Pennsylvanian--believes in a little thing called freedom.

It is "unrealistic" to expect people who can vote and serve in the military "not to be able to take a drink," says Penn President Amy Gutmann

After the jump, Cornell President David Skorton refuses to sign for no articulated reason.

In a Cornell Daily Sun article, Skorton says:

I share the urgency and commitment to make progress with what is one of the major areas of concern for all of us in student life and safety — dangerous binge drinking. I believe the Amethyst Initiative’s statement raises serious policy issues on this important topic, issues that should be debated and evaluated. However, based on my experience and my reading of the research literature, I opted not to sign this statement

Dean of students Kent Hubbell, Cornell '67, was less cryptic. He said, quite correctly, that research suggests raising the drinking age to 21 has saved lives through a decline in drunk-driving deaths. Hubbell's opposition to the bill is also rooted in personal experience. The Cornell Daily Sun reports:

Hubbell said that when he was a student at Cornell, the drinking age was still 18 and alcohol abuse occurred at least as frequently if not more so than it does currently.

Ah, the good old days...