Nick Volek and Andy Farnetti were scrawny freshmen wallflowers when they joined the war.

Their war began in 2003. Spray-painted T-shirts. Painted faces. About 30 people and a whole lot of booze.

Now they’re four-star generals in what they call the War on Sobriety.

The war isn’t a regular protest. This war makes its leaders nervous at the thought of police, drinking tickets and being arrested.

Four years ago, seniors Jon Small and Thomas Norton wanted to start something for people not involved with Greek Life.

There’s an event every day of the week during homecoming in high school, Farnetti said. The men who started the war wanted to create an event that everyone could participate.

Before the founders graduated they asked Volek and Farnetti to take over the group and make the war a tradition.

Now that he’s a senior, Farnetti, a corporate communication major, makes it his own personal task to make sure every person who shows up for the war has a good time.

“If you’re here, we like you,” he said.

The “War” on Sobriety is exactly that. Students meet every day of Homecoming week to socialize, play games – and drink.

“It’s our fight for the people who like to drink,” Volek said.

The pair said non-drinkers are also more than welcome to come and socialize with those drinking, despite encouraging constant alcohol consumption.

Today the group of about 150 students will meet to pre-game for homecoming on Saturday.

On Saturday the group will wake up early to participate in a beer breakfast. They’ll continue drinking all day: during the parade, tailgating before the game and still after the events as a celebration of the war’s end.

The first year the war only had two officers. The number grew to four, then six. Now the war has nine officers, so when someone leaves or graduates, another can take their place.

“We can afford to lose somebody,” said Volek, a senior sociology major.

Being a general is about dedication to the war, Volek said. Only those who help make sure everyone is involved and participating in drinking games and socializing, setting an example, are recognized.

This year the money raised from the war is planned to be donated to the Charleston VFW. That money will go toward care packages to benefit the troops of the real war.

But the commander of the Charleston VFW post didn’t know about the donation. He said that he should know about any sort of donation, but hadn’t heard anything about the War on Sobriety.

Some of the money donated comes from yellow ribbons the soldiers are selling for $1. The group is also taking donations and selling War on Sobriety T-shirts.

The generals each have a handful of friends fighting in the current war. That’s part of the reason they chose to donate this year’s proceeds.

“There’s so many,” Volek said. “We could rattle off names for hours.”

Farnetti said they’re working with a local flower shop to supply the ribbons. That flower shop worker is in charge of donations, he said, but the supplied phone number was incorrect.

War on Sobriety hasn’t been a part of the Homecoming Parade so far, other than a reported interruption in last year’s parade.

The group made an attempt to legitimately march for this year’s event.

A few weeks ago, “war general” Andy Zerbian went to the local Army recruitment office in hopes of sponsoring a float in the parade.

Zerbian spoke with Sgt. Anthony Adkison. Adkison was under the impression the group was a fraternity-sponsored event. He had no idea the group was “putting people’s lives in danger,” he said. “I thought it was a legitimate group, at first.”

The two discussed putting a humvee in the parade, but the plans were too late.

Adkison said Zerbian didn’t explain much about War on Sobriety. He was short when he was in the office and didn’t explain much about the group or what they stood for.

The Fight Spreads

The war is spreading to other areas of Illinois.

A friend of Volek and Farnetti’s visited for homecoming last year and decided to start a war at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Karlton Scott transferred from Eastern to Purdue and wanted to start a “war” there.

Plans fell through for this year’s Homecoming, but next year Scott is aiming for at least 300 soldiers, he said.

Volek and Farnetti wouldn’t disclose the location or contact information to join the war. They’re trying to keep their activities quiet, despite interrupting the Homecoming parade.

Interested students can talk to anyone wearing a War on Sobriety T-shirt.

“It’s really underground,” Volek said. “We don’t want to get a bad reputation.”

Volek said they don’t specifically check to make sure participants are 21 before allowing them to drink.

“We frown on underage drinking,” Volek said. Every year the war T-shirts say “21 means 21.”

The idea of getting caught has occurred to the generals, but Volek realizes that it’s part of homecoming and college life.

And putting the two together makes the generals giddy.

“I can’t believe we’ve done something where people are like, ‘Wow, this has been the funnest week ever,” Farnetti said.

“It’s like Christmas to me. I love that day.”

Homecoming and the city (sidebar)

The clientele at local liquor stores consists mainly of students, and homecoming may be the busiest weekend of the year.

A manager at Gateway Liquors in Charleston, said that sales increase during homecoming weekend. However, alcohol sales stay consistent throughout the semester, he said.

The owner of East Side Package in Charleston declined to comment, but a month ago, a store manager said Homecoming is the busiest time of year.

Management at East Side discussed opening at 6 a.m. on Saturday so people could go to the parade and parties for the day.

Homecoming brings parents and friends together as a community, said Angela Edgar, the wife of a co-owner at The Rabbit Hole in Charleston.

She said the staff at her store thinks it’s nice that people gather together and have a good time. Homecoming focuses too much on alcohol. It should be about coming back and gathering with friends, she said.

Things aren’t just about making sales or getting drunk, Edgar said. Homecoming is a busy weekend, but it isn’t just good for the business, it’s good for the whole town, she said.

Edgar considers homecoming as one of the best events in the community.

But some think homecoming isn’t the same as it used to be.

Homecoming used to be hard work preparing the campus for the return of alumni, said Bob Dudolski, director of Greek Life.

Dudolski was speaking on his own behalf, not necessarily reflecting that of Greek Life.

Students used to work hard preparing the campus for alumni to return to their alma mater. They’d paint windows, make floats and decorate the yards on Greek houses. The students’ purpose was to entertain the alumnae who came “home.”

The windows and floats are still done now, Dudolski said, but not to the same extent.

Several fraternities and sororities have discussed the idea of bringing homecoming back to what it was once about: school spirit.

Some portions of Greek Life are not participating in a beer breakfast on Saturday. Some are also hosting events for their alumni before and during the parade, like Sigma Pi fraternity.

Danny Scheck, graduate assistant for Greek Life and members of Sigma Pi fraternity said the men of Sigma Pi host a barbecue for alums who return to campus.

The men also set up their bleachers, usually used for fraternity meetings, so alumni can watch the homecoming parade.

Alums of all ages return with family for homecoming, but Scheck said he didn’t think many other groups on campus had the same situation.

Roughly 40 alums return because of the family-friendly event, he said. But homecoming as a whole doesn’t really offer much for families.

Dudolski said that short-term plans for change are happening this year.

“But long term, I think we have some work to do,” he said.

Groups on campus tend to focus more on themselves instead of focusing on the school, alumni, and the actual homecoming idea, he said.

Eastern and Charleston don’t provide enough for alumni to do for Homecoming, he said. If there was more to do, more alumni would come back, he said.

Dudolski said that Eastern has lost the two points of homecoming: Alumni and school spirit.

“I think we drop the ball in both courts,” he said.

He pointed out that many alumnae that come back have graduated in the past few years.

The community and university don’t provide events or activities for older alumni to participate in.

And younger generations turn to drinking.

“If there’s nothing for them to do than stand on the street and drink, that’s what they’re going to do,” he said.

The community fought to have the university in Charleston in 1895, Dudolski said. It’s as much an issue of the city shaping up homecoming as it is for the university.

Both the city and the university should take responsibility for students’ behavior during homecoming, he said.

It’d be nice to see older alumni come back, Dudolski said. But there isn’t much for kids or families to do during homecoming.

Health Services on campus is also affected by Homecoming.

It sees more after-effects of Homecoming and other major weekends at Eastern, said Eric Davidson, associate director of Health Service.

“We see those students who injure themselves,” Davidson said. Students also come in after having unplanned or unprotected sex.

Based on the increased alcohol use during fall weekends like “opening weekend,” Homecoming and Halloween, those are the busier times for Health Service.

Davidson said he’s familiar with the War on Sobriety, and students who place themselves in “at-risk” situations.

Those involved may not consider that as more students get involved, the more the risks increase, Davidson said.

The student leaders, or generals, may also not consider the responsibility that may fall on them if someone is seriously injured, he said.