We like to think of Georgetown as a “work hard, play hard” school, but last May an e-mail from Vice President for Student Affairs Todd Olson informed the student body that Georgetown would be cracking down on the play part of the equation this year.
The new party regulations—which will supposedly begin October 1, although an e-mail to upperclassmen living in apartment complexes stated that they will be in effect for this weekend—will require weekend party registration by 10 a.m. on Thursday. Additionally, the new rules limit parties to 25 people in Henle and Village B or 35 people in Nevils, Village A and university townhouses (50 if you have a rooftop or a backyard) and require all potential party hosts to attend a mandatory training session in September. Apartment complexes are also newly equipped with RAs to “make those neighborhoods … more welcoming and engaging,” according to the e-mail.
As a matter of both protest and practicality, all apartment and townhouse residents should register for parties every weekend night, just in case they end up having a few more friends over than the limit permits.
These measures are a gross overreaction to the usually well-controlled campus party scene. Returning students know from experience that 25 or even 35 people is an impossibly low cap to maintain, even at a relatively tame party.
Moreover, weekend plans are rarely hashed out by Wednesday evening in order to meet the Thursday morning deadline for party registration. And it is hard to imagine that “party training” would offer anything beyond the standard instructions given during the beginning-of-the-year residence hall meetings and on the party registration web site, unless it includes a bartending lesson.
As students get older, they’re allowed to choose more spacious and comfortable housing that should carry with it a certain degree of added autonomy. The new party rules blindly rob students of one of the few facets of campus life they largely have control over. More distressingly, the changes were made with little, if any, public discussion, in sharp contrast to the widespread keg-ban debate that took place last year, perhaps because the keg ban was defeated.
The Voice supports the University’s desire to maintain a safe atmosphere on campus, but the new regulations are the wrong way to go about it. Olson told the Voice that the aim of the changes was to enable “students to socialize in settings they feel comfortable in.” Hoyas should make it clear that we were more comfortable before these menacing regulations, and Georgetown must open a public dialogue about party regulations with the goal of making them acceptable to the students, leaving intact our ability to enjoy weekend nights while keeping campus safe.
