Last month, we questioned whether Towson University was a school with a drinking problem. Hospitalizations were up; the administration was in a tizzy; and then there was that whole riot/police dogs/tear gas/shooting thing at Homecoming. Being that drunk and sloppy is not a good look. Or maybe it’s a great look — hence the new “TU Wasted To Care” t-shirts that are causing some talk around campus.

The shirts are made by an off-campus company called Campus Teez, which makes its money by selling alcohol-themed college shirts: “USMASH LOWELL:  My BAC is equal to my GPA!”; “It’s fun getting drUNHk but it’s even better getting DURHAMMERED”; “O-NITT-ERATED:  If I told you I was sober, I’d be lion,” etc. The “TU Wasted to Care” shirt is actually one of the less awkward phrasings; it also features an image of the school’s mascot, Doc the Tiger, passed out on a couch with red Solo cups all around him. He has either spilled beer on his chest or thrown up on himself.
According to the Towson Towerlight, some students on campus find the shirts objectionable. “It sends a kind of bad portrayal,” said sophomore Genevieve Fromm. This seems especially true given the school’s recent attempts to change the alcohol culture on its campus. But it turns out there’s not much the administration can do, since the shirts are parodies, and thus considered safe from copyright infringement laws. “This tshirt is not licensed, sponsored or authorized by any educational institution. Its sole purpose is to enable the individual wearing it to express the message contained on it,” Campus Teez writes on its Facebook presale page for the TU shirt.
But that doesn’t mean that school officials like the shirts. “A student walking around with a ‘TU Wasted to Care’ shirt reflects on the overall institution,” Associate Vice President of Campus Life Teri Hall told the Towerlight. “One student choosing to wear that shirt, not only reflects on them but the TU for everybody else too.”
Unfortunately for the administration, Campus Teez has been wildly popular on other campuses, and there’s no reason to think that Towson will be an exception. The company likes to appoint students as “brand ambassadors” and they sponsor events at local bars in order to “get their name into the campus party scene.” And “teez” are just the beginning — the company hopes to soon create its own line of beer pong tables. God help us all.