With student demand for its space as high as ever, and the administration pressuring it to control crowds, the Eclectic Society has been forced to make some tough decisions lately. The society’s house at 200 High St., with a capacity for 299 persons, is one of the largest and most popular venues for student concerts and parties on campus.
But after non-members caused several hundred dollars’ worth of structural damage to the house at the Sex Party in September, the administration forced Eclectic to host its Halloween Party in MoCon. Since October, the society and the administration have been trying to come to a compromise over the house’s use.
After the Halloween Party, the University agreed to let Eclectic host its next large event, the Valentine’s Day party, at 200 High St. As part of the agreement, Public Safety, Residential Life, and the Office of Student Activities and Leadership Development laid out a serious of guidelines for Eclectic to follow in addition to the normal requirements asked of all registered events. These included instituting a no reentry rule, staffing all entrances and exits with society members, eliminating ticket sales at the door, and publicizing these new rules on all party advertisements and in a Wespeak to be written by the society. Still, lingering concerns over safety led the University to postpone the event.
“The administration was dissatisfied with the preparation (our flyers, advertisement of the rules of the party, etc.) and disallowed us from having [the Valentine’s Day party] on the 17th,” said Eclectic Treasurer Hyojin Park ’08. “So, with a tremendous amount of effort on the society’s part, we had it the following weekend.”
With the WestCo Café closed most of last semester, and the ongoing ban on woodframe basement use, Eclectic found itself one of the last free student-run venues on campus. While Psi U has a capacity similar to that of Eclectic, the fraternity became an off-campus house several years ago, and now charges students interested in using its space.
“Because we understood the need for student activities, we decided to open up our house to a much greater extent than we have in the past, so that the student body could continue to have a space to use,” said Eclectic Social Chair Josh Scannell ’08. “This semester, the only events that we rejected were ones that conflicted with dates that had already been booked.”
Eclectic members feel they’ve been unfairly blamed for the actions of non-members who attend events at their house.
“With such a drastic increase in events at Eclectic, the subsequent damage done to the house has become one of the administration’s major qualms with [the society], as the administration tends to see only the magnitude of the damage,” Park said.
The administration acknowledges the student body’s need for available spaces, but stresses safety and manageability.
“The most important thing with a party is to have enough planning beforehand and to have enough people running it,” said Director of Public Safety David Meyer. “I think it’s important that we want to plan safe and enjoyable events.”
President Doug Bennet suggested that the new University Center will offer space for student events.
“The hope is that the University Center will diminish [the demand on other spaces],” he said.
Both Eclectic and the administration rejected the possibility of MoCon being used as a regular student space, but for different reasons.
“MoCon is not practical to keep open,” Bennet said, adding that the building’s high heating costs will keep it shut for good after this year.
“Frankly, Mocon is not a great party venue,” said Eclectic President Janine Criscuolo ’07.
“The administration was under the impression that moving the Halloween Party out of Eclectic and into MoCon would create a healthier and substance-free atmosphere,” Park said. “The ambulances that were called at the Halloween Party made it clear that it’s not Eclectic nor Eclectic’s parties that encourage intoxication.”
While the Valentine’s Day party went smoothly, the turnout was less than the expected. While Eclectic understood and accepted the University’s guidelines for the party, society members thought the added measures and the postponement hurt the party’s atmosphere.
“We were disappointed in the turnout, but we understood why fewer students were interested in showing up than in the past,” Scannell said.
Though imposed by the University, the no reentry policy has garnered support from the society. In the past, unpredictable reentry through 200 High St.’s 11 entrances led to concerns that the society’s parties were breaking fire codes.
“I didn’t think [the policy] would be a big deal, since most clubs and bars have no re-entry policies and it seems to work out fine there,” Criscuolo said.
While they hope the reopening of the WestCo Café will reduce the number of student groups requesting their space, Eclectic members understand the value their house plays to the campus social scene.
“The only thing that Eclectic members want from events that we host is for students to come and enjoy themselves and have some respect for the house that we live in and the members and administrators who are throwing the party,” Scannell said. “It’s a party for the students, not for us. We generally don’t have fun at these events because we have to work security, but we know that other kids do, so we fight like hell to make sure that we can throw them year after year.”
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