Hello, Newman.

Happy Newman's Day. Wikipedia defines Newman's Day as: "a college tradition involving drinking 24 servings of beer within a 24 hour period on April 24. The spirit of the tradition often requires that the beer be consumed without falling asleep, changing your daily schedule, or vomiting and that participants must attend classes, meals, and other events as usual. As a result of these difficult constraints, few students who start the tradition actually finish 24 beers. The event is not officially sanctioned by any university."

The origins of this tradition are shrouded in mystery, however some claim 'Newman' refers to Paul Newman. It is said that Newman gave a speech at Princeton on April 24 in the 70s and ended by saying "I think I'll go have a beer." Some at Princeton and Bates also attribute the line "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not," to Newman as well. Neither of these statements has ever been verified and Newman has denied any connection to the tradition.[1]

In fact, Kenyon College, Newman's alma mater, had tied the day even closer to Paul Newman by celebrating on March 30, the anniversary of the Paul Newman's first Academy Award, a day marked with events (both alcoholic and not) and a t-shirt sale for a charitable cause.

The event received extreme media attention in 2004 after Newman's lawyer sent a letter to Princeton University, and more significantly forwarded a copy to the New York Times, hoping to end the tradition at Princeton.[2] This resulted in swarms of reporters around campus but the celebration continued and the controversy swelled.

In 2004, the Dean of Undergraduate Students at Princeton ordered campus security to seize 400 Newman's Day t-shirts from a student's room, causing an uproar among students, faculty, and civil rights activists.[3]. Eventually the shirts were returned after the event but the student was not compensated.[4]

In 2004, Princeton's Student Health Advisory Board printed up "anti"-Newman's Day t-shirts meant to thwart participation in the event, yet the ambiguous message on the shirts ("Celebrate Newman's Day 2005") actually increased participation.[5]