BY KATE WALTON

In print | October 4, 2007

The campus-wide Halloween party will not be returning to its traditional location in Mary Lyon for yet another year, but instead might make a permanent move to Upper Tarble and Paces. The party will now be hosted by the Student Activities Council.

The Residential Assistants of Mary Lyon voiced several concerns including the liability for an often out-of-control party, the inability of the Breakfast Room to contain the estimated 800 guests and the designation of only four public toilets for the guests. Also, the dorm’s location in a residential neighborhood poses additional problems. “It’s a terrible fire hazard. I wouldn’t even want to think about how catastrophic it could be if there was a fire” said Tally Sharma ‘09, an RA in Mary Lyon. "The Breakfast Room itself is a big, good space. The only thing is there’s the whole problem about the bottleneck," Sharma said, in reference to the small staircase and sole entrance that leads from the first floor common room into the Breakfast Room where most of the party occurs.

Mark Kharas ’08, another RA in Mary Lyon, described the parties of past years as “dangerous, loud and rowdy.” Despite past attempts to block off the rest of the dorm by barricading the halls and stairways with furniture, party-goers have a tendency of sneaking past them, seeking out more bathrooms. The majority of bathrooms in the dorm are semi-private and accessible only through dorm rooms, a fact which does not stop some students. “Lots of people get drunk, rooms get broken into, and windows get urinated into,” Kharas said. Besides the logistical problems facing ML, the RAs also worry about the legal implications of hosting such a large event, especially given its residential location. With town residents living within such proximity, the police are apt to be called with noise level complaints.

“If police were given reason to enter and cited all the people drinking underage, the ML RAs who signed the party permit would be held liable. It’s something that you cannot require the ML RAs to do,” said Christopher Green ’09, resident

of ML and Breakfast Room coordinator.

Since no other groups stepped forward to host the Halloween event, the Student Activities Council has taken over. Like last year, the party will be centered in Upper Tarble, but this year it will remain a dry space. In additional to the space in Upper Tarble, though, Paces will be open. The hall outside Paces will be turned into a haunted house complete with chains, spooky sounds and ghosts, through which partygoers will enter in order to get to the bar and café where tables and chairs will be set up. “We wanted to make it accessible to the whole campus,” said Anna Mello ‘08, SAC Co-Chair, about the decision to host it again Upper Tarble. Its large space and centralized location make it an ideal place to host such a big event. But will this become the new, permanent home for Swarthmore’s annual Halloween party? “Maybe we could start a new tradition,” Mello said.

However, the RAs of ML do plan on hosting an event this year. One option is a repetition of the Dinner Mystery Party held last year in which up to 100 guests were invited to come in costume and watch residents of the dorm perform a murder mystery play while eating food prepared in the dorm’s kitchen, an event which Green called a “good success.”

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