If you have been to the fine College Park bars a time or two, chances are you may have run into an older gentleman named Jerald Zeger — the man better known to us college folks as Dr. Z. The eccentric outfits and nifty moves on the dance floor make him stand out from the college guys pounding down beers and hunting down girls like they’re on an African safari adventure. Dr. Z is well-known in this area, but his story is shrouded in a fog of mystery.
When I sat down with the man, I quickly realized the interview would be unlike any I had done before. I bet you didn’t know he holds doctorates in chemistry and computer science, as well as a law degree and a real estate license, or that he has taught at this university’s and Harvard’s graduate schools.
Some people think this older man is a creep or pervert because he consistently hangs out at college bars. And while I can understand some of their concern, to hear Dr. Z tell it, their suspicions couldn’t be further from the truth.
While we view the bars as places to get drunk while immersed in the smell of vomit and sweat (R.J. Bentley’s, anyone?), Dr. Z views them as research. This research isn’t for a class or a project, but for the man himself. “I’m trying to study the personality of the people, and I found out that when people are drinking, their real personality comes out,” Zeger said. “Not their mask, not what they learned how to do in church and family gatherings, but their real personality — how they are with other people.”
After contemplating this for a minute, I couldn’t help but agree to a certain extent. Indeed, alcohol does make it easier to talk to new people and helps us feel comfortable saying the stupidest things. Maybe the barriers from insecurity and past rejections in life lead us to create the masks that he speaks of, which only come off when alcohol is in our system and we don’t care how we are viewed. But is the theory true? It is debatable at best, and certainly can’t be used as a blanket statement for society as a whole.
You see, Dr. Z views himself as a professional learner. As I understood it, he believes people limit themselves because of fear of failure or social rejection. He has learned to allow only reality to limit what he can and can’t do. Success, to him, means doing his best. “Very, very, very rarely ever are you the best,” Zeger said, “but I can absolutely guarantee that 100 percent of the time you can do your best.”
Rumors about a possible book with these studies have been circulating for years. Perhaps from these books we will learn how he has witnessed the change in college students over the decades. After all, no one person could have uncovered all of the mysteries that surround this man in one interview.
I guess that time-tested statement of “you can’t judge a book by its cover” is true, after all. Beyond the unique clothes and dance moves is a man who few will take the time to get to know but has a story that all should hear.
Maybe the story was a bit far-fetched, or maybe it was the absolute truth. All I know is if I hadn’t had to write this column, I probably would have never taken the time to listen to him — but I guess society has taught us all to judge entirely too fast. Sad, isn’t it?
Josh Birch is a senior communication and history major. He can be reached at birch@umdbk.com.
