<p>Over at the Duke LAX post, Driver offered very interesting observations about college drinking. I have witnessed similar happenings vis-a-vis alcohol at a couple of fine private universities; one a northeast bastion and the other a well-regarding southern aristocrat institution. At both schools, alcohol was rarely the center of social events (informal gatherings) for African-American students. For example, many African-American (especially women) students declined to attend most MBA- Law- graduate school parties, complaining that the events were just “beer, beer and more beer.” Whereas for their non-black peers, social drinking was particularly viewed as bonding. A generalization no doubt, but a clearly evident event from what I observed a few years back.</p>