When the senior class officers announced a “harder, faster, no drink tickets, way f-ing cheaper” senior cocktails in last week’s issue of The Argus, they were not making empty promises. Senior class officers say that senior cocktails will not only be held this year, but will be better—and more affordable—than ever.

“Last year, the cost of passes was way too high, about $190,” said Senior Class President Ravid Chowdhury ’09. “The goal this year is to set pass prices as low as possible. It’s feasible that we could charge between $110 and $130 for six events.”

Last October, senior cocktails were temporarily cancelled when the driver was reportedly verbally and physically abused, and alcohol containers and illegal drugs were left scattered around the bus after the second installment of the event. When these issues led the bus company to cancel its contract with the University, the class of 2008 only held six of the seven planned events. Students were given the option of opting out of their passes, but those who did not were stuck paying the full $190.

“Ethically, we felt it was important to provide an option for seniors to opt out, since they weren’t getting the plan they had paid for in the first place,” said Director of Student Activities and Leadership Development Tim Shiner. “We lost a fair amount of income from pass sales.”
As a result of the disorderly conduct on the bus during the October event, the University was forced to switch to a more expensive coach bus company.
“We went from a school bus company that was renting us twelve buses for $37 an hour to having to switch to a coach bus company, which charged something between $800 to $1000 per bus per hour,“ Shiner said.
Three of the five events after the incident with the bus company involved issuing seniors three drink tickets apiece as opposed to an open bar in an effort to reduce costs. Another goal of the change was to refocus senior cocktails on senior class unity rather than drinking.

In light of last year’s events, the senior class officers have taken steps to ensure that the class of 2009 is paying less for more. The first senior cocktails is set for November 1 and will host an open bar, although hard alcohol will not be served to bring down pass prices.
“Eliminating hard alcohol saves us $8 or $9 a head,” Shiner said.
The majority of the cuts, however, came from the efforts of the senior class officers, a group that Chowdbury compared to a well-oiled machine.
“My mother throws massive parties, and she has lots of connections in Connecticut,” said Chowdhury, a Glastonbury native. “Looking at the model per person costs, it was clear that Wesleyan was getting ripped off in the past.”

Shiner noted that, although Chowdhury’s efforts did, indeed, help reduce costs, the final price of the event remains to be determined.

“Ravid is a hardcore negotiator, and he’s certainly shaved prices in ways that have surprised me.” Shiner said. “However, whether the prices of passes will go down to the levels he predicted is another story. It depends largely on what the senior class officers are allocated by the SBC.”

Student Budgetary Committee (SBC) chair Chris Goy ’09 lauded Chowdhury and the senior class officers for working to make year-long passes cost effective.

“I’ve seen the basic outlook of what he is proposing, and he’s right, he has cut a lot of costs,” Goy said. “We can still have a great time and not spend nearly as much as we’ve been spending in the past. This is not a defense of the SBC budget in any way, this is a defense of the average senior paying a tremendous amount of money to be a part of these events, and frankly it being so high that it becomes prohibitive for certain members of the senior class being able to afford to go.”

Goy emphasized the role of responsible behavior in preserving the future of senior cocktails as a mainstay for University seniors, especially in light of Chowdhury’s promise of an open bar.

“Wesleyan students need to realize that the style of events that is senior cocktails is truly an anomaly, and we are truly lucky to even have one event like that,” Goy said. “A lot of schools wouldn’t undertake the tremendous amount of risks that allow us to have this fun.”

Goy added that he does not believe the open bar will pose an issue during the events.

“There have been plenty of times when students on this campus have had free access to as much alcohol as they wanted, and they’ve acted responsibly and they’ve gotten home at the end of the night. Students have had four years to be around excessive alcohol and learn to pace themselves.”

Those directly involved with senior cocktails agree that the 2009 senior class officers have made tremendous steps toward improving cocktails.

“These senior class officers are more on the ball, more self-starting, and have more of a plan than last year,” said Shiner, who has worked with the senior class officers for the classes of 2007, 2008, and 2009.
Goy agreed with Shiner’s assessment.

“It appears the class of 2009 made a good choice,” Goy said.

In general, most seniors are relieved that cocktails made it through last year’s debacle relatively unscathed.

“It’s awesome that passes will be cheaper than last year,” said Kyle Nuland ’09. “But in all honesty, I’m just happy that we are having cocktails at all.”