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BY MARTHA MARRAZZA and MARA REVKIN

In print | Published October 27, 2005

With the annual Halloween party at Mary Lyon approaching this Sunday, the administration is looking to avoid the transportation issues and conflicts with police that marred last year’s party.

This year’s party, “Escape from MLcatraz”, will be structured similarly to past Halloween parties, but this year the college has contracted a bus to take students to and from ML in response to transportation issues last year. PAs and public safety will be on hand to keep the widely attended event under control.

Administrators enacted certain precautions to ensure the success of the party, Associate Dean of Student Life Myrt Westphal said. “There are many initiatives we’ve taken for the party this year to make it safe and fun for students,” she said. “There are a large number of PAs [Party Associates] that will be on hand. We are aware of the health and safety concerns [of walking back to campus], so we have hired a school bus to take students from Mary Lyon to Parrish so they don’t have to walk.”

Jaky Joseph ‘06, PA coordinator, said PA presence and procedure at the Halloween party is no different from other campus parties. "We are going to have eight PAs at the party, which is how many we’re supposed to have considering the size of Mary Lyon. What we expect of PAs at this party is the same as what we expect of them at other parties," he said. “PAs ensure that everyone who enters the party is a Swarthmore student, a guest of a Swarthmore student, or a Tri-Co student. They [PAs] have to mark hands when people enter and differentiate if the person is 21 or not. We just ensure the general safety of the party.”

Parties in previous years have often provoked police involvement, but the police maintain that they will not target the Halloween party unless they receive a noise complaint from a member of the neighborhood. “We mentioned the party at the fireside chat and we have discussed it at our meetings with the college administration. We have expressed concerns based on parties from previous years,” Swarthmore Borough police chief Brian Craig said. “We look to party organizers to keep things under control, and we only show up when things don’t stay under control.”

Westphal hopes that contracting the bus will prevent clashes between students and the police. “Students are encouraged not to walk back to Swarthmore. I count on Swarthmore students to be responsible partiers, and I’m counting on them to be responsible partiers at this party too,” she said. “I think it’s nice because for the RAs and students it’s a chance to show off their dorm to the whole campus, and it’s a chance for students to just have fun.”

ML RA Rachel Shorey ‘06 said she and the other party hosts recognize that the Halloween event is a little different than the average on-campus party. "Since Mary Lyon is located off-campus in a residential neighborhood, we’re prepared for the fact that police are more likely to be patrolling the area. They’re more likely to respond to noise complaints than they would be if the party was on campus," she said.

Ben Oldfield ‘07, another ML RA who helped plan the party, stressed that he and the other RAs are taking steps to avoid irritating the neighbors. "We’re doing everything we can to throw the party with consideration toward the neighbors. The PAs and RAs will make sure all the windows stay closed to help keep the sound in, and thanks to Jenny Yim we’re having a school bus in addition to the regular van service that takes students to and from campus all night," he said. “The RAs and I hope that all party-goers are mindful of Mary Lyon’s residential setting and its proximity to its neighbors.”

As a further courtesy to neighbors, ML residents plan to open the dorm to area children for trick-or-treating on Halloween night. “The Mary Lyon RAs gave a letter to the neighbors, telling them about the hours of the party, and to please call public safety if there are any noise complaints,” Westphal said. “There is also usually trick-or-treating in Mary Lyon, so they’ve invited the neighboring children to trick-or-treat at the dorm.”

Shorey said that the letters also requested that the neighbors contact Swarthmore public safety before going to the police with any concerns. “We do pass out a letter [to neighbors] reminding them of the party and asking them to call us or public safety if there’s a problem, because we feel like we can address any situation most quickly and productively,” she said.

Public safety director Owen Redgrave said the Halloween party will get the same amount of attention bestowed on any other large-scale event. “Public safety is not doing anything different for this party. We are always looking out for student safety. We keep an eye on any event that attracts a number of people on campus,” he said. “We do oversee the evening shuttle which does go to Mary Lyon. We will service it the night of the party, so there will be two ways to get back to campus.”

PAs will further work as intermediaries between the party hosts, public safety and the police, Joseph said. “If the situation gets out of hand for the PAs and they feel like they can’t control it, then they call public safety. If the police were to come to the party, it would be the hosts’ responsibility to deal with the police. We relay information between the host and non-Swarthmore students, and the host is the contact if police were to come,” he said. “I think the only difference this year is that we resolved the transportation issue by getting a bus.”

Oldfield and the other RAs portrayed the party planning as a dorm-bonding event. “The theme was chosen by our residents. We had a dorm-wide study break to discuss the party and come up with committees for decorations, food and drink servers, and clean up. At the meeting we brainstormed a list of possible themes,” he said.

ML RAs narrowed the list of themes down to MLcatraz, Dante’s ML and Dungeons and Dragons before paring down the list.

Party planners have been completing final preparations in the week leading up to Halloween. “We’ve been buying lots of food and sodas, some really cool decorations, and some autumny things like apples and pumpkins,” Shorey said.

A few ML residents are worried about hosting such a large-scale event in their dorm because of noise concerns or other disturbances, but such unease is usually dispelled by the time of the party, said Miriam Newman ‘07, a third-year ML resident. "Every year people worry about the Halloween party, but we take a lot of precautions to ensure that it doesn’t get out of control, and it always ends up being a fun party," she said.

As a host, Oldfield said he realized that he must balance the needs of ML residents while welcoming the rest of campus to the dorm or a fun party.

“Every year, this is the only large party thrown in a dormitory at Swarthmore, and as RAs and hosts, we’ve got to walk the thin line between catering to the needs of our residents and upholding a fun college tradition,” he said. “For the most part, these two aren’t mutually exclusive and I think in general there’s a positive sentiment and excitement in the dorm toward the party. We’re excited to show off our pad.”

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