Barnard Roommates Organize Massive Mooning

Adding their names to the hallowed list of senior pranksters past, about 150 members of the Class of 2000 mooned Furnald Lawn last Wednesday night, going bare-ass on the Lerner ramps. This is but the latest accretion to the longstanding history that is the senior prank, a fun way to end a four-year undergraduate career at the University.

Roommates Karen Berenthal and Rachel Grundfast, both BC '00, came up with the idea in January upon return from winter break.

"We were discussing senior prank and how it was a shame that no one ever really knew when and where it was going to happen," Berenthal said.

"I think our inspiration for the prank itself came from our living in 616, directly across from Schapiro, the residents of which all too often shared their most intimate poses with us by not remembering to pull down their shades."

Grundfast added, "Building a student center with a wall of glass screams out for something like that."

After discussing the idea with several friends, they decided to submit it to their class. The two e-mailed Class Presidents Charles Saliba, CC '00, and Melissa Marrus, BC '00. "We are fully committed to pulling off this prank, and our pants," they wrote. SEAS 2000 President Vikaas Mittal was later informed of the idea.

On Tuesday May 8th Saliba sent out an e-mail to the entire Class of 2000. "It was many, many moons ago that we entered Columbia University, and so it's only appropriate that we leave with even more," it stated.

Berenthal said that she and Grundfast were concerned with student participation this year because they felt that in recent years the prank has become nothing more than the work of a few jokesters.

Said Berenthal, "We ... thought it would be neat to come up with something everyone could participate in."

The greater emphasis on student interest didn't seem to raise the number of students taking part, though. Last year, there were about 200 students packed into Butler, where the Class of 1999 gave first chickens and then a party homes in the 24-hour reading room, compared with Berenthal's estimate of only 150 last Wednesday.

Berenthal was pleased with the outcome despite the smaller turnout. "When 8:00 p.m. rolled around, we counted down and all the seniors dropped their drawers, and displayed for all campus their very own '00s. It was great."

Despite the night's wet weather, however, there was a small audience on Furnald Lawn to watch. Berenthal approximated that there were two-dozen people watching in the rain, but Saliba thought the number was much higher. "There seemed to be more people watching than mooning," he said.

Erin Fredrick, BC '01, was in the student center when all the seniors came rushing in. She said, "The seniors started shouting 'go outside,' so we all risked [the rain]."

While security personnel were very involved with last year's senior class prank--several guards were needed to break up the party in Butler--none had heard anything about this past Wednesday's incident.

The event did create some immediate commotion for Lerner guards, though.

According to Fredrick, a woman at the Lerner Hall security desk started yelling and was very confused as to what was about to happen.

No information, however, had come over the security radios on Wednesday night or during the ensuing days.

This is not the first time that such debaucheries have occurred. Indeed, end-of-the-year pranks have a long-winded history at Columbia, where graduating seniors try to come up with fun ways to enjoy their last days on campus.

This year also marked the first in at least four years that the main prank had not occurred at Butler Library.

While the Class of 1999 gave a chicken show, the Class of 1998 attracted about 750 students when it had two strippers perform in the same reading room, and the year before that saw seniors light fireworks on the library's roof.

Speaking of the fireworks three years ago, Saliba commented, "The bar was set pretty high, so we tried to do something fun … [The senior pranks] are a cute last event, and it was a very fun thing."

For those that were there, it was an enjoyable event. "I heard someone saying that they never felt more class spirit," Saliba said. He himself concurred, saying, "I felt that there was a bit of spirit to it. Class spirit, at least."

Alfred Lerner Hall Architect and Dean of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Bernard Tschumi could not be reached for comment.