Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Pierre Dowden McMurray's has raised its entry age to 19 as of this semester, a decision that has received mixed reactions from Witt students.

As of Jan. 1, McMurray's Irish Pub adopted a new rule: no one under 19 years of age is allowed inside after 10 p.m. Those 18 and under are still welcome, but must arrive prior to 10 p.m. The reason for the change? Depends on whom you ask.

Pat O'Neill, part of the management at McMurray's, hopes the change will encourage freshmen to "get out and enjoy campus life," but co-manager Brian O'Neill cited "indirect, outside pressure" from Wittenberg administrators and police.

He said that the new measure, which may be the first of others, is intended to create a happy medium between the popular hangout and Wittenberg administrators, and ultimately to keep the popular hangout "as safe as possible."

The move is a response to concerns over alleged underage drinking at the pub, which are described by management as hearsay. Co-manager Brian O'Neill asserts that he cannot recall any such incidences occurring at the restaurant, but allows that it is a possibility-not only at McMurray's, but at any restaurant.

The rumors reached the ears of Wittenberg officials, who expressed their concerns in a sit-down with McMurray's management. The meeting, according to the pub's management, took place in Dean Sarah Kelly's office. Dean Kelly could not be reached at the time of press.

McMurray's continues to take other measures to prevent underage drinking; for instance, patrons are carded at the door, and those who are old enough to drink are given stamps on their hands to show at the bar. If a student makes it past the doors and to the bar without a stamp, it indicates that the student has somehow not been carded and certified as being of legal drinking age, and the student is prevented from drinking.

The nineteen-and-up rule may be followed in the future by other measures, according to management. Student reactions to the measure vary.

Sophomore Kent Fuller-Foff said he believes that the move makes sense.

"It's a good idea. Underage drinking can lead to other issues," he said.

Others disagree; Brad Wilson, a junior, said that underage "students who want to drink will do it anyway" and that "it's not right to limit where someone can go, out of fear of what they might do."

The nineteen-and-up rule may be followed in the future by other measures, according to management, perhaps in conjunction with changes to the bar itself. The pub is in the process of taking on a new image. According to management, McMurray's is "going toward a restaurant environment."

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