After Debates, Site Chosen for Year-end Party

The Intrepid party has a new home. After a month of brainstorming, debating, and negotiating, the year-end celebration committee decided on March 13 to hold the event at Bridgewaters, an upscale celebration venue at the South Street Seaport.

The only drawback to this "amazing" space is its steep cost, said committee chair Eleanor Coufos, CC '03.

Holding the event at Bridgewaters would cost $70,000 compared to the $40,000 cost of past Intrepid events.

This high price almost prevented the committee from choosing the venue, and provoked heated debates and negotiations.

Problems arose because with the $30,000 budget from the administration, tickets were initially set to cost $60. This is significantly higher than the $20 cost of the Intrepid party.

After negotiations, however, Coufos was able to attain a deal with Bridgewaters that reduced the ticket prices to $20 per person, provided that Columbia guarantees an attendance of at least 2,000 people.  

"[We will] be very surprised if all 2,000 tickets did not sell," said Miklos Vasarhelyi, vice president of CC '04.

But the stipulation created a question as to who would cover any losses if the tickets were not sold.

Initially, "the deans were adamant that the councils had to [make up the difference]," Coufos said.  

But the student councils were unwilling to commit themselves to such a risky fiscal obligation, Vasarhelyi said.  

After weeks of meetings with Dean of Student Affairs Chris Colombo and Dean of Barnard College Dorothy Denburg, as well as deliberation within the year-end celebration committee, the administration and students reached a compromise.  

The councils are responsible for the first 1,000 tickets, while any debt incurred from tickets 1,001-1500 will be split between the councils and the administration. The final 500 tickets for this 2,000-ticket event will be accounted for by the $10,000 which the committee trimmed from the projected total cost of this celebration, reducing the initial $70,000 estimate to $60,000.

The $10,000 budget reduction was made due to decisions to reduce spending on the celebration's entertainment. In the past, the Intrepid celebration had DJs like Funkmaster Flex spinning, as well as a band. This year, there will be no band and the DJ will be less well-known.

"We cannot afford to hire a DJ of that caliber, but we will still make sure we have a good DJ at the event," Vasarhelyi said.  

Due to the venue change, the year-end celebration will also be presented as a semi-formal event.  

"It's a much classier venue, and despite the tight budget, the committee is working hard to make sure that decorations, music, and the entire event will be great," Vasarhelyi said.  

Although students and administrators were able to reach a "reasonable compromise" in what Jon Klein, the Columbia College Student Council vice president for campus life, believes was "an unreasonable situation," his consent of the compromise was reluctant.  

"Although the administration's willingness to pay some money is appreciated, considering the fact that this was a situation entirely created by their own poor decisions, it should have been an event whose costs were financed entirely through their own budgets," Klein, CC '03, wrote in an e-mail, referring to the University's decision last month to cancel the traditional party at the Intrepid due to concerns about alcohol and drug use.

Tickets are slated to go on sale during either the last week of April or the first week of March. Up until then, however, the committee will be busy finalizing plans for the event and publicizing it on campus. Despite the different location and its new semi-formal status, organizers say that student interest in the event should remain the same as past years.

"If we get the word out, I'm confident that the many students who were upset by the cancellation of the Intrepid and rallied behind reinstating the party will attend," said Ashley Compton, president of BC '04.

The year-end celebration committee first met on Feb. 19 to brainstorm possible venues for the event. Constrained by the limited time and the handful of venues available in the city that can accommodate 2,000 people, however, the meeting ended with few options. Although the committee had investigated other possible venues, including the Guggenheim, the MET Pavilion, and Cooper Hewitts, they felt that Bridgewaters would be the most suitable.
The weeks of negotiations were difficult at times.

"It was frustrating at times because the committee had already been put into a very difficult situation. The committee convened with only three months to organize the event and booking a venue for 2,000 people is no easy task," Vasarhelyi said.

Certain administrators, such as Cherie Sheridan, director of College Activities at Barnard, helped the process along.

"Cherie went above and beyond her call of duty to make sure this party happened. I have no doubt in my mind that without her help this might have not been able to happen," Coufos said.

Committee members are content with the final arrangements and are looking forward to the celebration plans.

"I'm very pleased with the result and I feel that it's really impressive that the week before spring break so many student leaders and administrators made the effort to cooperate and collaborate to make sure this event would happen," Coufos said.

"After months of negotiating bringing the year-end celebration back to the new venue, I'm excited that we've reached a conclusion and am looking forward to seeing its progress," Vasarhelyi said.
Even with his contentions with the compromise, Klein agreed that Bridgewaters was a "fantastic find" and is "confident that 2,000 tickets will be sold."