No one, um, misused the otter tank*

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Rumors of drunken depravity have been bubbling up in the aftermath of the Charleston School of Law‘s recent Barrister’s Ball at the South Carolina Aquarium.

Talk of tanked students urinating in the otter tank during the ball — along with reports of other misbehavior — spurred Sidebar to drop everything and investigate.

But, so far, it appears that the stories were embellished and, possibly, conflated with unsubstantiated rumors that fouled a past ball.

The school’s president, Ed Bell, and its dean, Andy Abrams, said in separate interviews that a few students hit the bottle too hard and that one vomited. Abrams said the puking occurred in a bathroom. He also said some snockered students smoked in a stairwell, which was a violation of aquarium rules.  

That’s it, according to Bell and Abrams. (The school’s Student Bar Association president did not respond to an interview request.)

“It was billed as being a quiet night at the aquarium and I think, like any party, you have some people who have a couple too many and I think that’s what happened,” Bell said.

He added that Abrams asked the aquarium to hand over surveillance footage from the student-organized ball, which featured a catered beer-and-wine bar, but the fish folks waved him off, saying whatever happened wasn’t a big deal.  

Meanwhile, Abrams said the students in question “have apologized for their lack of professionalism and the remainder of the student functions are alcohol-free for the remainder of the semester.”

It only takes a few bad fish to ruin a good time for everyone.  

However, the school will have its traditional champagne toast after commencement in May, according to Abrams.

The latest Barrister’s Ball rumors are reminiscent of tales that circulated after Charleston’s 2009 ball at the aquarium.

Back then, it was said that some students previously urinated in the otter tank. … And that students fornicated in the bathroom. … And that a student fought with a legislator.

You’d think that if all that mayhem went down years ago, Charleston students wouldn’t be invited back to the aquarium for another law school prom — and another opportunity to pee in the otter tank.

*As far as we know