BOSTON — Twenty-eight ambulances were called to the University of Massachusetts campus in Amherst amid reports of excessive drinking at an early St. Patrick’s Day party Saturday.
The Amherst Fire Department and UMass officials said “many students were observed carrying plastic gallon containers, believed to be ‘borgs,’” said a statement from chief university spokesman Ed Blaguszewski.
A borg — or “blackout rage gallon” — is a mixture of vodka, water and sports drink powder or caffeinated flavor drops that has become popular recently on campuses, having been touted on TikTok as a “hangover-proof” binge drinking method.
The students were participating in the Blarney Blowout, an annual pre-St. Patrick’s event that’s not sanctioned by the university.
The university had not previously seen such a “notable use of borgs,” according to Blaguszewski’s statement, and announced it will “consider steps to improve alcohol education and intervention.”
The statement said all incoming students are required to take an alcohol education class that “includes information about the size of standard drinks, and physiological and medical risks of binge drinking.”
None of the ambulance calls involved a life-threatening emergency, the university said.
About 30,000 students attend the campus, 70 miles west of Boston.
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