Newman Day

Newman Day (also Newman's Day) is a collegiate drinking ritual where 24 beers are consumed over 24 hours. It is named for the late beer-drinking actor Paul Newman^[1] and his apocryphal remark made during a campus speech: "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not."^[2] Another reported source comes from a scene in Cool Hand Luke, in which Newman’s character eats 50 eggs in an hour.^[3] Newman Day occurs on April 24, and is celebrated at many colleges, particularly Princeton and Yale. At Bates College it happens on the Friday nearest the actor's January 26 birthday. Kenyon College, Newman's alma mater, has observed Newman Day on March 30, the anniversary of the actor's first Academy Award.

History

Recent research has shown references made to Newman Day in The Bates Student as early as the late 1970s, including alumni who remember days of cafeteria food fights following each year's celebration.^[4] Bates Student research indicated that the tradition was founded by several first-year men living in Milliken House in 1976, spreading to the entire campus and, years later, other institutions.

Newman opposed the tradition,^[5] which received media attention in 2004 after his lawyer sent a letter to Princeton and Bates registering Newman's disapproval.^[6] However, the drinking continued unabated.

Newman Day participants indulge during the stipulated 24-hour period, and should neither sleep nor vomit. They also attend their normally scheduled classes.

Spin-offs

Newman Night has been recently started at The Evergreen State College in which students celebrate by having a dinner-party consisting largely of Newman's Own brand food. A classic Paul Newman movie is viewed and whenever Newman enters a new scene, the partakers have a drink of Newman's Own beverage spiked with liquor.

Harvard College's Hasty Pudding Theatricals celebrates an annual Paul Newman Day while on tour in Bermuda. Many members are known to take part in the popular Kitty Dukakis Day, drinking 750 ml of liquor in 24 hours. Additionally, some of its members have been known to take part in what is known as The Jonathan Price Holiday Grog, drinking 72 beers in 72 hours.

Many fourth-year students at the University of Virginia celebrate the day of its football team's last home game by drinking a metric fifth (750 mL) of liquor – approximately 300 mL of pure alcohol, assuming 80-proof liquor – between the midnight that begins game day and the kickoff of the game.^[7] This practice, known as the "Fourth-Year Fifth", has drawn extensive criticism since a student died of alcohol poisoning during an attempt to complete it, and the University has promoted a student-developed event labeled the "Fourth-Year 5K" (i.e., 5-kilometer run), open to students of all years as well as local residents, as a constructive alternative.^[8] (It is unknown whether any student has successfully completed both events simultaneously.)

References

1. ^ http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/200809/paul-newmans-beer-drinking
2. ^ The Daily Princetonian: Carol Lu, "If I had a nickel for every beer I drank today." April 24, 2007.
3. ^ http://www.liquorsnob.com/archives/2008/04/happy_newman_day.php
4. ^ The Daily Princetonian: Carol Lu, "If I had a nickel for every beer I drank today." April 24, 2007.
5. ^ The New York Times: "Newman's Day — forget it, star urges drinkers." Retrieved May 27, 2007.
6. ^ BBC News: "Binge drink ritual upsets actor." Retrieved May 26, 2007.
7. ^ http://www.readthehook.com/files/old/stories/2005/12/01/coverHighSpiritsWahoosTack.html
8. ^ http://www.virginia.edu/studenthealth/peer/5k.html

External links

• New York Times Article April 22, 2004
• Daily Princetonian 2004 t-shirt controversy