Ole Miss students are continuing to purchase fake IDs that will allow them to enter bars and bypass ID-scanning apps on the Square.
All bars and restaurants that are required to have an Alcohol Beverage Control permit are also required to scan customers’ IDs as part of the city’s “Alcohol and Safety” ordinance. The ordinance took effect on Monday, but some businesses began implementing the changes before the official start date.
A crowd forms outside of many of the bars on The Square on the Friday night before the first day of classes at Ole Miss. File photo by Christian Johnson
Freshman business major Alex Vana said the bar scene in Oxford played a large role in why he wanted to come to Ole Miss, and he was able to go to “almost any bar” with his friends during the first month on campus. Now, he said his experience on the Square has changed with the implementation of the ordinance.
“It seems much more serious now to use a fake ID than it used to, and this has the potential to change the social scene of the whole university,” Vana said. “My friends and I will still go to the bars on the Square, but we will not be as carefree as before.”
Freshman business management major Jordan Bailey said his friends who purchased fake IDs before coming to Ole Miss are now reluctant to use them because of the scanners.
“Friends of mine are choosing to not even risk going to the bars anymore,” Bailey said. “The new law will change the bar scene in Oxford in a negative way, and businesses will not be as successful.”
Underage sophomores, who have been enjoying the bars in Oxford already for an entire year, are also trying to find ways around the new ordinance.
Sophomore business major Mason Ross said the ordinance will be a minor setback, but underage students will still find ways to engage in the bar scene in Oxford.
“Students will eventually start getting around the scanners, it will just take time,” Ross said. “I know some people are still getting in. Bouncers are looking the other way as long as people pay the cover charges.”
Sophomore integrated marketing communications major Taylor Dancer said she experienced this first-hand before the ordinance was implemented when she went to one of the bars on the Square after Ole Miss’ homecoming football game.
“I gave my ID to the bouncer, and he let me in,” Dancer said. “I don’t know if it actually scanned or if he just let me in because I paid.”
Ross said some of her friends are trying to find people to buy real copies of IDs from because “all you need is someone that looks enough like you,” and students can get into a bar.
“People will be hesitant to go to the Square for a while, and house parties will probably become more prevalent,” Ross said. “Ole Miss students will find ways to party and drink regardless of the rules Oxford puts in place.”
