Cross & Crescent

In 2004, the editors of The New York Times asked Middlebury College President Emeritus Dr. John McCardell (Washington & Lee 1971) to write an essay reflecting on his experiences.

He agreed and submitted a 1,500-word, six point article, entitled “What Your College President Didn’t Tell You.”

Unfortunately, the editors then said they could only publish 750 words, so they asked him to reduce his article to three points including a particular one about the drinking age.

“So I sent it in and it appeared in September of 2004,” McCardell says. “You have your 24 hours of fame generally when those things appear and then it kind of evaporates….”

Well 700 of his words did evaporate, but the remaining 50 about the drinking age, received an extraordinary response. He received e-mails, and letters, and even a few phone calls — almost entirely positive.

Chance Encounter

One of the calls was from Julian Robertson, the founder and former chairman of the legendary Tiger Management Corp., which at one time was one of the world’s largest hedge funds.

Robertson told McCardell that he agreed with the point about the drinking age issue and wanted to know what they could do about it.

“And I said, ‘Mr. Robertson, I really don’t know what we’re going to do about this…I’ve just stepped down as the president and I’m going to go back to being an historian,’” McCardell says.

However, the two did agree to meet and subsequently convened several meetings over the course of 2004 and 2005, which involved other former college presidents. The group decided the next step would be to prepare a white paper.

“…21 is not working as well as its supporters claim.”

Robertson’s foundation gave Middlebury a grant that allowed McCardell to hire student research assistants and they spent a year composing an essay, entitled “The Effects of the 21 Year-Old Drinking Age: A White Paper.”

In the summer of 2006, after McCardell submitted the piece to Robertson, he again assumed that would be the end of it.

“We’ve done the study and we’ve fulfilled the terms of the grant,” he says. “This has been a very interesting exercise and we’ve discovered some things that we think show that 21 is not working as well as its supporters claim.”

But Robertson didn’t want to let the issue drop so he asked McCardell what funding it would take to create a nonprofit organization to educate the public.

McCardell put together a very modest budget and presented it to Robertson who asked, if his foundation put in half could McCardell raise the other half?

“Well what’s a former college president and fundraiser to say when confronted with a challenge?,” McCardell says. “‘Of course, Mr. Robertson. Of course, I can do that.’ So the foundation over the last 12 months has given us several hundred thousand dollars and we’ve managed to raise an equivalent amount.”

Media Spokesperson

Choose Responsibility incorporated as a nonprofit in December 2006, with a bare bones operation — three staff members and offices on a second floor over a storefront in Middlebury.

In April 2007, the Choose Responsibility website went live and almost immediately they began to receive public attention.

The other “turning point” came when columnist George Will found out about the organization and wrote an article for The Washington Post in April 2007. “We were off to the races after that,” McCardell says.

The media interest has increased steadily — including coverage from CNN, Fox News, National Public Radio, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, Parade Magazine, and college newspapers across the country.

In addition, Leslie Stahl with CBS’ “60 Minutes” interviewed McCardell in late January of this year and the segment about the drinking age is scheduled to be broadcast in the coming weeks.

“I don’t think anyone would have predicted the degree of public response to this issue, which really says to me it’s time to reopen this debate,” he says.

Public Educator

In 1984, federal law did not set a national drinking age. It said the states may set the age limit wherever they chose but, if they set it lower than 21, they would forfeit 10 percent of their federal highway funds.

“Well that was a pretty effective way of stifling debate,” McCardell says. “So the legislative remedy, or the change that needs to take place, which we are beginning to advocate, is the lifting of that 10 percent condition.”

Ultimately, the decision would then fall to the states to determine what the drinking age would be — but it is unlikely any state legislature or governor would consider a new bill and risk a cut in federal funding.

McCardell plans to spend the rest of this year doing his best to educate the public. He hopes that by some time in 2009, with a new president and a new U.S. Congress, there will be a chance to introduce a new bill to remove the 10 percent penalty.

“The day after this happens the drinking age will still be 21 in every state,” he says. “But the day after that happens we also will be able to see this debate resume, unencumbered and on a level playing field. So that’s really what we’re really looking towards.”

Middlebury President

In 1992, when McCardell was named the 15th president of Middlebury College, he was only the second president in the almost 200-year history of the college to be selected from the ranks of the faculty.

After graduating from Washington and Lee University, he completed his graduate work at Johns Hopkins University and then earned a doctorate in history from Harvard University in 1976. That same year he joined the Middlebury history department.

During the past 32 years, in addition to his teaching responsibilities, McCardell has been dean for academic development and planning, dean of the faculty, provost and vice president for academic affairs and acting president.

In 1977, he received the Allan Nevins Prize from the Society of American Historians for the best-written dissertation on an American subject. His dissertation was later published by Norton & Co., under the title of The Idea of a Southern Nation.

As president, McCardell led a strategic planning effort that produced a 10-year plan for Middlebury. The plan took a comprehensive view of the institution and boldly projected a 15 percent increase to an enrollment of 2,350 by the year 2004, an addition of 30 new faculty members, and a facilities plan for $200 million in new or renovated space.

He led a successful capital campaign, which closed its books on June 30, 2001, having exceeded its $200 million goal by almost $12 million, and a second mini-campaign that raised $40 million during the academic year 2002-2003.

He stepped down from the presidency in June 2004, but continues to serve as a tenured history professor.

Renewed Energy

McCardell jokes and says his role with Choose Responsibility “makes you get out of bed in the morning.”

“A law that a vast majority of the affected population is not observing is not a law that should remain unchallenged.”

He never could have imagined that The New York Times article would evolve into starting a new business. He thought that when he stepped down as Middlebury’s president he would just go back to being an historian and a college professor.

“Well, I have to say, it has been energizing,” he says. “It has been stimulating. It has been fascinating. I have enjoyed the give and take. And I happen to believe, I happen to agree with, the people on the other side who believe this is a very serious public health issue.”

The essential message McCardell wants to share is that legal age 21 assumes that most young adults, if given the chance, behave irresponsibly and therefore need to have a law on the books to prevent that. The Choose Responsibility view is that a legal age of 18 assumes that most young adults will behave responsibly, given the chance, and that the more responsibility you expect of a young adult the more responsible behavior you’re likely to get.

In the eyes of the law, 18 year olds are adults in every other respect.

“It is inconsistent, and frankly indefensible, to say that maturity and judgment are there to vote, to sit on a jury, to sign a contract, and to defend your country — but not to buy a beer,” he says. “A law that a vast majority of the affected population is not observing is not a law that should remain unchallenged.”