By Sophie Webb, Co-Editor-in-Chief
The annual East vs. West party is one of the highlights of the Bryn Mawr College social scene. Every year a new dueling theme such as glitter vs. glow or leather and lace vs. outer space is chosen to represent each side of the Pembroke East and West dorms, and students from the Tri-Co and beyond swarm Bryn Mawr for an evening. Because of its traditional place in the Bryn Mawr community, it came as a surprise to many students when this year’s party was shut down by Bryn Mawr Campus Safety at approximately midnight.
Lillian Burroughs, Director of Bi-Co Operations Campus Safety, explained that concerns over alcohol consumption as well as overcrowding led to the party being shut down. “Overall, we had 8 alcohol cases that night,” she said, mentioning that four of them occurred before midnight. According to Boroughs, one case required a student to be taken to the hospital in critical condition. Because of the number of cases and the severity of one case, Burroughs said Campus Safety decided that “there’s something seriously going on, we’re shutting down this party.”
In the days and weeks following the party, rumors and questions have been swirling amongst the student body as to what implications the failed East vs. West party will have on the Bryn Mawr social scene. Bryn Mawr Director of Student Activities and Orientation, Mary Beth Horvath sees no reason why East vs. West would not continue to be a tradition in the future. However, changes to the party planning process and alcohol policy will be implemented.
She explained that “this party was yet another that was not managed well despite prior planning by the organizers. This semester we’ve had an increase in the number of students going to the hospital for alcohol related issues… in talking with the people working parties, not just at this party, it’s clear that there are aspects of the party policy that are not understood or not being enforced, or both.”
Currently, party training is an online module that party hosts, servers, and bouncers must complete before hosting a party. Horvath said that as of next semester, the online module will no longer be offered and all party training will happen in person.
The other primary change is that hard alcohol will no longer be permitted at parties. Horvath explained that “because we know people are heavily pre-gaming with liquor, they don’t need access to more liquor at parties. So, for now beer and wine are permitted. This is very typical of what’s permitted at many colleges. It’s unusual for colleges to allow liquor at registered parties.”
Bryn Mawr students are accustomed to large amounts of freedom and trust when it comes to partying and alcohol, a philosophy that is grounded in the social honor code. The new changes being implemented are not meant to infringe on this trust but to ensure that the students who engage with partying and alcohol are safe. Burroughs reiterated many times that, “if you see something, definitely say something…we’re not the party police. We want all the students to have a good time, but we also want them to call us if there’s an unsafe situation.”
Photo credit: Flikr
