Two months after he finished up as president of Middlebury College in 2004, John M. McCardell Jr. wrote a column for The New York Times called â??What Your College President Didnâ??t Tell You.â? In the piece, he discussed how he was â??as guilty as any of my colleagues [as presidents] of failing to take bold positions on public matters that merit serious debate.â? Taking advantage of his new emeritus status, he proceeded to take a few such positions. Among other things, he wrote that the 21-year-old drinking age is â??bad social policy and terrible law,â? and that it was having a bad impact on both students and colleges.
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