Greg Masten stands behind the Duck's black tiled bar Tuesday night wiping his hands free of spilt liquor after pouring a round of birthday shots. A group of senior women sit around a rectangular table in the corner adjacent from the broken pool table laughing, talking and drinking.
"Tuesdays have been a pretty decent night," Greg Masten said.
Masten, a bartender at the Duck, said that in years past Tuesday was senior night at the Duck.
"Two years ago senior night at the Duck tapered off," Masten said. "I think it'll pick back up this year."
But one night a week cannot help the bar stay in business. On typical drinking nights like Thursday, Friday, and Saturday the Duck feels emptier than in years past.
"Where are all the upperclassmen at?" asked Jeremy Miller, the Duck's bar manager. "They haven't stopped partying."
DePauw's recent 12-place ranking on Princeton Review's of top party schools, in the Princeton Review, indicates that the student body continues to drink.
Toeing the line senior year between the rigors of academics, seminar, looking for jobs, and wanting to soak up all the social aspects campus has to offer challenges seniors first semester.
"The beginning of the year [seniors] lock it down and focus," said Ben Detro, another bartender at the Duck. "Toward the end, they realize this is ending and want to go out every night."
Detro also said students who turned 21 over the summer haven't had the "Duck experience" yet.
Aluminum Fat Tire Seasonal beer signs, a row of projection televisions and fraternity and sorority paddles line the walls of the Duck. A Golden Tee Golf video game sits next to the rack of three pool cues. Behind the bar itself are dozens of clear green and brown glass bottles waiting for one of the bartenders to pour their contents into a drink.
Ben greets most by first name. Greg presides over the bar, skillfully swooping in to see if someone needs a refill.
But not all feel the warmth the Duck offers to its patrons.
"As a senior girl, I prefer the frats," said Hillary Egan. "There are more people to socialize with -people of all grades."
Senior Max Blankenhorn, who turned 21 his sophomore year, doesn't feel the same way about heading to the bar anymore.
"The bars get old quickly here due to the lack of variety," said Blankenhorn.
Low numbers of bar-hopping students also affect other local bars, including Hoods and Capers and Moore's Bar.
"The trend was at 10:30 or 11, a crowd would come then around 1 or 1:30 they would go to Hoods," Masten said. "Hoods isn't seeing the late crowd either."
Miller said the Duck would consider having drink specials during the week, but cannot do a dollar drink night like Hoods because school policy prohibits them from having a cover.
"We've speculated and wished for the last few weeks," Miller said. "Hopefully it gets going soon."
