As part of the Duke Community, and to demonstrate my understanding of the grave consequences of drunk driving, I pledge that I will not drive under the influence of alcohol, nor will I allow my friends to do so, under any circumstances.
Over the past two weeks I have been struggling to process my anger at the man who killed my close friend. While I was tempted to get some sort of "I-hate-you-look-what-you-did!" petition going, I know that we can make a much more powerful stand by finding a positive action to deal with our anger and grief. This pledge against drunk driving is that action.
At 21, Tyler Brown was a man of action. As we remember and honor Tyler, who was killed by a drunk driver Oct. 9, we tell stories about his laughter and the many ways in which he fully indulged in college life at Duke. We applaud the ways in which he helped people, both here at Duke and on the other side of the world in Indonesia. He was amazing in so many regards, and those of us who knew him are keenly aware of all that has been stolen from us. Losing Ty has been one of the hardest things I've faced at Duke, and I often wonder when, if ever, I will reconcile his death in my mind.
A large part of my grief comes from the unwarranted manner in which he died. Tyler did nothing wrong that night, and yet his life was taken by a man who made a decision to drive while under the influence of alcohol. We might never know what that man was thinking when he got in the car that night, but I imagine it wasn't very different from the decisions we face as students every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Just imagine:
It's chilly when you step outside the bar. You drove over, not planning to drink much, but you met up with some friends and one thing led to another and soon you were five or six (or seven or eight) drinks deep and feeling pretty good.
Last call rolls around and it's time to go home. You don't feel unsteady; you aren't falling down drunk; and you have enough senses about you to slip under the radar of any watchful bartenders. But you aren't sober.
Your car is in the parking lot. You could call a cab, but your apartment is less than a mile away, and it seems like a waste to wait for a cab, leave your car overnight in the lot, risk being towed and ticketed and have to come back for it in the morning.
It's cold, and you'd really like to save those five dollars for cosmic. So what do you do?
You convince yourself the risks of driving are low enough to make it worthwhile, and you start your car.
I'm sure many of us have been in this situation before, and probably a good number of us have gotten behind the wheel. What's scarier is that many of us have made it home okay. But that's not to say it was safe, or right, and it should not undermine the immense threat we assusme-to our own lives and the lives of others-when we make that decision. No matter what happens on a drunk drive home, the risks are always intolerably high.
Think about it; Kevin McGuinness had been caught driving under the influence three times prior, meaning he had probably gone un-reprimanded more times than that.
Most times he made it home without incident, but one time, Oct. 9, 2005, he took the lives of two people. That one time, and every one time before it, was one too many.
Tyler was someone who would have done everything possible to actively resolve a problem he saw in the world. Part of honoring Tyler's life is to take actions to reduce the risk of this happening to someone else's friend, boyfriend, best friend, son, brother, cousin or colleague. I was saddened and disappointed to hear of the two drunk driving incidents that occurred on or around our campus even in the first week following Tyler's death, and this made me realize that at Duke, we don't take drunk driving seriously enough.
Perhaps this pledge won't change the world, and perhaps Kevin McGuinness will never know about it. But if we could make a small change, even just in our community at Duke, then that would be something worthwhile.
This pledge will be available for signing at Tyler's memorial service on Sunday Oct. 30, at 2 p.m. in the Goodson Chapel of the Divinity School. Please sign the pledge to show your support for Tyler, his family and friends, and seriously consider the ways in which you personally can prevent this tragedy from being repeated.
Emily Wren is a Pratt senior.
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