Committee to Seek New Off-Campus Party Site

In what appears to be a major reversal by the University, administrators tacitly approved an off-campus, end-of-the-year celebration to replace the canceled Intrepid party, student representatives said yesterday.

Citing concerns about alcohol use, the Office of Student Development and Activities and the College Activities Office decided to cancel the annual Senior Week party aboard the U.S.S. Intrepid last semester and officially announced the cancelation on Monday. Until yesterday, the SDA and CAO had indicated that they would not authorize an off-campus replacement for the Intrepid party.

But in a meeting between student affairs administrators and student government representatives yesterday, the SDA and CAO approved an end-of-the-year party at a new location. The planning and preparation for the new party will fall under the authority of the SDA and CAO, not under the Senior Week committee, which had organized the Intrepid party in the past.

At yesterday's meeting, students and administrators agreed to create a new student-run committee, which will be overseen by the SDA and CAO and will be responsible for choosing the location of the party and planning the event.

The new committee will consist of six student representatives--two each from Columbia College, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Barnard College--as well as young alumni representatives and a committee chair, who will be chosen from among the group of student leaders involved in the negotiations in recent months.

Kevin Shollenberger, the executive director of the SDA, and Cherie Sheridan, the director of the CAO, will also serve on the committee, and the School of General Studies will be offered representation.

All decisions regarding the new end-of-the-year celebration will come from this committee, whose student members are expected to be chosen within a week.

Officially, no decisions have been made about the location of the party.

"Where it will be and what form it will take still has to be determined," Shollenberger said. Specific decisions will only be made after the committee officially convenes and researches viable venues for the event, he said.

But student representatives expressed confidence yesterday that the end-of-the-year party would be held off campus--a major demand of student council and Senior Week representatives ever since they began lobbying the SDA and CAO for a new location last November.

"I'm 99.9 percent sure it will be off campus," said Eleanor Coufos, CC '03 and one of the three Senior Week chairs.

Coufos maintained that the location of the party "is the committee's decision," but she added that "we have a 'yes' from SDA and CAO to go off campus, and I find it very unlikely that the committee would choose to go on campus."

Coufos also noted that, even if students or administrators did want to hold the party at Columbia, an on-campus party would not be feasible. On May 15, the scheduled date of the party, space in Alfred Lerner Hall is booked with other reservations and outdoor lawns will be filled with chairs for commencement ceremonies, making a party essentially impossible, Coufos said.

Amar Doshi, SEAS '03 and the SEAS senior class president, agreed. "The three Senior Week coordinators and the class presidents, after having done some research, believe that there are no appropriate available options on campus for a venue to hold a celebration like this," Doshi said.

As for the specific location of the party, students and administrators said no decision had been made and the committee would be responsible for choosing a location. The South Street Seaport was reportedly one venue that has been under consideration, but student representatives would not confirm that yesterday.

Regardless of the final location, the decision to create a new committee and to go ahead with plans for an off-campus celebration represents a victory for the senior class presidents and Senior Week planners, who have clashed with the SDA and CAO over the Intrepid party since last semester.

In an e-mail to the entire College on Monday, Columbia College Student Body President Michael Novielli, CC '03, wrote that, after a Dec. 11 meeting between student representatives and administrators, "SDA and CAO stated that there was a 1 percent chance that a school-wide off campus celebration could still happen."

But student representatives continued to press the administration, culminating in yesterday's meeting, which was attended by Chris Colombo, Columbia's dean of Student Affairs; Dorothy Denburg, dean of Barnard College; Dan Bertolino, Barnard's dean of Community Development; Shollenberger; Sheridan; Senior Week advisors and chairs; and the three senior class presidents--Doshi, Kim Grant, CC '03, and Rachel Greer, BC '03.

At the meeting, students presented a proposal that they felt would address the administration's concerns--mainly safety issues stemming from high alcohol use--which had led to the cancelation of the Intrepid party in the first place.

Included in their proposal were original, individual letters supporting a school-wide, off-campus celebration written by members of the Senior Fund, the Columbia College Student Council, the Engineering Student Council, and the Student Government Association. Throughout their presentation, students emphasized the importance of having the celebration off campus.

The most effective element of their proposal, however, was the design of a new, separate committee that would be responsible for heading the event.

After clashing with the administration for months, student leaders were surprised by the swift agreement they reached at yesterday's meeting.

"We were very pleased with today's outcome, [and we were] glad to see the administration so willing to work with us," Grant said.

Shollenberger also expressed optimism about the agreement. "The Senior Week chairs worked very hard. They did a great job, and Cherie and I are looking forward to working with them to create a fun, safe, end-of-the-year celebration," he said.

Student leaders were delighted by the agreement, but they were also aware of the responsibility that will come with the decision--especially in light of the safety issues that have historically plagued the Intrepid party.

At the meeting, administrators made it very clear to the student negotiators that any breach of safety regulations and codes of conduct at this year's party would severely jeopardize any chance of ever having an end-of-the-year celebration again.

"There are certain expectations of the students and of us that must be upheld," Doshi said.

Student representatives said that they intend to stress the importance of appropriate behavior, particularly to underclassmen who attend. Since it is no longer organized by the Senior Week committee and thus not officially a part of Senior Week, the event will be targeted, in the words of Grant, as a "community event" that will include all students from all classes.

Greer emphasized that the "rules and regulations would be made clear to the students and strictly enforced."

According to the student leaders, specific examples that would stand as grounds for the permanent abolition of the party include students showing up drunk at the event, harassing staff members of the designated venue, unacceptable rowdiness on transportation if provided by Columbia, and attempts to smuggle drugs or alcohol into the event.

"An important part of the acceptance [of the proposal] is about educating the student body to appreciate this event, recognize how important it is to them, and thus behave accordingly at the event itself," Coufos wrote in an e-mail.