“If there’s any time in our lives when we’re supposed to drink and have fun, it’s now,” said finance sophomore Max Helsel, who was at The Riverboat event Wednesday night.

Ask students at MSU about drinking and there will be a different answer each time.

Alcohol has fueled celebrations, riots, holidays and in some cases, trips to the hospital. But what do students who attend MSU really think about the drinking culture here?

“Drinking is definitely a part of the college experience. You see it in movies, you hear your parents talk about it, you hear about it on the news,” biochemistry and molecular biology junior Zack Krause said. “It’s a part of it, but it’s not the major thing.”

A reputation

Search for the MSU’s party reputation on the web and what you’ll get is mostly A+ ratings. Almost immediately you’ll see links to pages like @MSUpartystories, a Twitter feed devoted to showing off the craziest party photos students here have to offer.

While students may have heard plenty about the drinking scene at MSU before their first day as a freshman, they might have changed their perception since their first year.

Niki DeLaurence, an education sophomore, said she saw the @MSUpartystories Twitter page before she came to MSU.

“That was a big thing. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, they have a whole Twitter site dedicated to it,’” DeLaurence said.

But DeLaurence said she doesn’t think social media sites such as party stories aid or encourage excess drinking.

“I think everyone is their own individual and you’re gonna make your choices no matter what...I think everyone is a big kid, they know what they want and they know what they’re getting themselves into,” she said.

Students also invest energy into getting ready for “drinking holidays” such as Halloween and St. Patrick’s Day, which often features intoxicated and costumed students roaming the streets of East Lansing for the entire day. Then there are annual MSU student-planned events like Nachofest.

This April’s Nachofest, which was the ninth annual event, was the first one in which alcohol was not served. But that didn’t stop attendees from bringing their own drinks and having a good time.

“It’s known as the party of the year, so you kind of just have to make it out,” environmental geosciences senior Kelsey Prochazka previously told The State News.

Saturday night social norms

Although many students say partying is a part of the college experience and agree that MSU’s reputation as a party school is strong, many don’t feel the pressure to drink.

Krause is in a fraternity at MSU and transferred from a hometown community college last year.

“I’ve always known that MSU has a very good social scene,” he said. “I didn’t really need to look that up.”

Krause had no problem adjusting to the heightened party scene at his new school.

MSU’s drinking scene has somewhat met the expectations he had before transferring here, he said.

“People get into the college style, you know all this, ‘We’re here to drink, party as much as we can, you know, enjoy our college time,’” Krause said. “Some people even say, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna get blackout tonight.’ It’s a personal choice half the time.”

But that doesn’t mean drinking is the sole way to have fun.

“I’ve been to multiple parties where there was literally minimal drinking and people still had a good time,” Krause said.

Andrew Brewster, political theory and constitutional democracy junior, saw terrible cases of excess drinking his freshman year. Students would panic and let each other pass out without asking for help.

“Most college kids have seen at least one horror story of drinking,” Brewster said.

Although she’s been familiar with MSU’s drinking scene for several years, she said she feels no pressure to drink on the weekends.

“I think you can make the choice for it to be a part of your life, but it doesn’t have to be because we have so many other things to do around here,” DeLaurence said. “If you want it to be, then yeah you have your options.”

Get out of jail free?

Medical amnesty is starting to be less of a source of confusion for students as awareness of the policy grows.

MSU provides information about the exceptions made two years ago to the Michigan Liquor Control Code and it could be reaching students more than they think.

Medical amnesty, which has been in effect since 2012, is a way for students to protect themselves and their friends from illegal citations, such as MIPs, if they reach out for medical help when they are intoxicated.

East Lansing Police Capt. Jeff Murphy of the said the number of students using medical amnesty has increased since last year.

Reports of people passed out or disabled from drinking have increased more than three times from last year’s welcome week. Last year there were six reports of students disabled from drinking, and this year there were 21.

Murphy said that the increase might not be a completely negative thing.

“Maybe they’re feeling a little more confident calling for help,” Murphy said.

Despite a dramatic increase in people calling for help after drinking in excess, students still think more needs to be done by the school to raise awareness about the policy.

Brewster said that he struggled for a while to understand the meaning of medical amnesty and the university needs to do a better job of explaining the policy.

“Being a vice president of a fraternity, I have to be pretty aware of the safety of underage people on this campus and the fact that I wasn’t completely aware of that shows that they don’t do a good enough job of educating people on that,” senior Andrew Brewster said.

Rebecca Allen, an alcohol, tobacco and other drugs health educator for Student Health Services, coordinates the Social Norms campaign.

The campaign, known for its use of cartoon ducks, is meant to educate students about alcohol and drug related issues.

“Typically people think there’s a lot more drinking and a lot more extreme drinking than is actually current,” Allen said. “So we do our best to take the real facts and get them out to students.”

Lyman Briggs sophomore Erin Leestma said she got so drunk last October at a party that she begged the police to not give her an MIP, and asked to go to the hospital.

From what she remembers, she was taken care of and doesn’t regret using the medical amnesty policy.

She said it was an “expensive lesson” with the hospital and ambulance fees, but a clean record was worth the money.

Late last month, freshman Jiayi Dai died of causes that are assumed to be alcohol-related.

“There’s one thing that should get everybody’s attention and (Dai is) not the only person in East Lansing who’s died from that,” Murphy said. “It happens, you know, thankfully not a lot, but it does happen.”