So, I'd left out some details that I thought were not relevant to the main point, but apparently that lack of detail is distracting. I'll add it back in. The

So, I'd left out some details that I thought were not relevant to the main point, but apparently that lack of detail is distracting. I'll add it back in. The institution in question is a small private university. Not one of the ones you've heard of, but they are at least somewhat comparable to that tier in an academic sense. E.g. I know people who turned down an MIT or equivalent to attend, and they often compete with that tier for grants. The class in question was normally a third- or fourth-year class (the school was pretty flexible with that sort of thing), with fewer than a dozen students and a professor I did not previously know. The social engagement was not a frat party or something. I would not have gone to something like that the night before an exam. Further, I didn't drink in those years anyway, despite being of legal age. It was (I know I'm dating myself) an old friend's last night at home before being deployed in the Iraq war. I drove home, and a bunch of us got together to send him off. I drank soda. Finally, on the question of fairness, the professor did acknowledge this. My score on the make-up was capped to a maximum still less than that earned by anyone else in the class. Even with all of those caveats, it still was something I would not have thought to ask for. I apparently also taught the professor something that day, and he said that going forward he would tell his students up front that he's willing to work with them on that sort of thing.