On Saturday, a costume party co-hosted by Georgetown’s Black Student Alliance ended early after a fight broke out and a student was seriously injured.
Department of Public Safety officers stopped the event, which was held in Hoya Court and co-hosted by George Washington University’s NAACP chapter and Catholic University’s African Council Committed to Enlighten Students and Society, shortly after the fight ended.
The event, called “What’s a Goon to a Goblin?” in reference to a Lil’ Wayne song, was open to area college students with ID. It was scheduled to last from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., but ended at 1:18 a.m. after DPS officers arrived.
“The DJ kept playing all these high songs, and guys were bumping into each other and stuff,” Catholic University sophomore and ACCESS events coordinator Ebuka Arize said. “I forgot what song was playing when the fight started, but it had something to do with punching people. Then all of a sudden, somewhere around five guys were beating up one guy. They were on him so bad you couldn’t even see him.”
DPS’ Crime Prevention Coordinator Joseph Smith confirmed that an incident did take place at the party but declined to comment because the incident is currently under investigation.
Arize believes that the attackers were Georgetown students, and the victim, whom he saw after the fight, was a Howard student.
Approximately ten minutes after the fight ended and the students involved had left, DPS officers arrived to break up the party, he said.
“He was bleeding all over, and he had bruises all over his face,” Arize said, adding that the group of students involved in the fight broke the hinges off of a door as they left the party in Hoya Court.
On behalf of the club, BSA president Amelia Colomb (COL `09) also declined to comment.
“BSA is currently handling the situation and would like to deal with the situation as a group,” she wrote in an email.
Arize, while disappointed with the outcome of Saturday’s party, said that it was going well for an hour before the fight, and he plans to have another party next year.
“It probably won’t be at Georgetown, though,” Arize said.
