Acutely drunken behavior during this year's first Senior Pub Night has cast doubt on the future of the event, widely seen as a staple of senior year — and now an independent student group is spearheading an alternative event to fill the void.
After the first Senior Pub Night of the semester went awry last month, Tufts administrators wanted to cancel the rest of the pub nights scheduled for this fall, but the Senior Class Council pushed them to scale back their demands, according to senior C.J. Mourning, the class council's vice president of social programming. The administration currently plans to call off the next originally scheduled pub night, set to take place on Halloween, Mourning said, but has left decisions about later events pending.
Rowdy behavior during the Senior Pub Night at Boston's Gypsy Bar on Sept. 24 prompted the venue's managerial staff to cancel the event halfway through, according to Dean of Student Affairs Bruce Reitman.
Bouncers refused to admit some students who arrived noticeably intoxicated, and asked several unruly students already in the bar to leave. Some partygoers urinated in the venue's main room, and some did not cooperate with security personnel. Others stole alcohol. One student attempted to expose himself to a female worker.
Upon hearing that Senior Pub Nights were in danger, seniors Raoul Alwani and Kevin Wong created the independent group Senior Club Life, and blasted an e-mail to the senior class on Saturday advertising an alternative "Senior Club Night" on Oct. 28 at Ned Devine's, an Irish pub in Faneuil Hall.
"We don't want the majority of our class to be penalized for the actions of a few," Alwani said. "We're not going to lose our senior year. You are a senior once in your life and we want to have a fun time — a safe, fun time."
Alwani and Wong's e-mail, which stated that Senior Pub Nights had been "suspended," a claim the university and Senior Class Council contest, garnered a startling response: Upwards of 750 seniors have already signed up to receive club night tickets, far exceeding the 500-person limit Wong and Alwani have imposed.
Senior Class Council members and administrators are planning discussions for this week and next to determine the fate of this semester's Senior Pub Nights and how to convey the necessity for a change in student behavior at pub nights.
Reitman did not confirm that the administration has officially called off any of the Senior Pub Nights, but he said adjustments need to be made.
"It's not canceled and it's not even under suspension," Reitman said. "We've asked the Senior Class Council to figure out how to address problematic behavior that results in the class getting thrown out of clubs. They're trying to increase individual accountability."
Gypsy Bar's managerial staff sent Reitman an e-mail after last month's pub night reporting the disorderly behavior.
In response, members of Senior Class Council and administrators in the Office for Campus Life and the Office of Student Affairs have planned a meeting for Thursday to discuss how to proceed with Senior Pub Night. Discussions are expected to continue into next week as the parties try to reach a resolution.
Reitman emphasized that the discussions about Senior Pub Night have no relation to other alcohol-related episodes this year. Rather, he said a history of disorderly behavior at Senior Pub Nights over the years sparked the need for action.
"It is the track record of this type of event," Reitman said. "This was the third time in four years that the senior class was thrown out of a club."
Mourning said that her group is trying to preserve a senior tradition. "Senior Class Council is working with the administration to make sure that Senior Pub Nights continue," she said.
The class council invited seniors to participate in a town hall-style meeting last night in Pearson Hall. The gathering aimed to provide an open forum for students to air questions and concerns. No university administrators were present.
About 10 students showed up, a turnout that Mourning attributed to poor timing during midterm season. Attendees of the meeting discussed how to hold students more accountable for their actions and "make [pub nights] more fun-based, as opposed to alcohol-based," she said.
When Alwani and Wong sent out their e-mail advertising their alternative Senior Club Night, students responded in droves. Alwani and Wong made 500 tickets available via an e-mailing system, but the system crashed minutes after tickets became available after approximately 300 students logged on virtually simultaneously, according to Wong. The next day, the two students designed a new online ticket-selling registration database. Tickets sold out in less than three hours.
Alwani and Wong are in discussions with the managerial staff of Ned Devine's about upping the 500-person capacity.
Tickets to the club night cost $10 — the same amount the Senior Class Council typically charges for Senior Pub Night tickets. Alwani and Wong said that they do not aim to make any profit on the event.
Because the event will be independent of Tufts, Senior Club Life plans to use its own methods to control the actions of students.
Alwani and Wong plan to invest $1,200 from ticket revenue toward increasing security inside and outside the event. The duo will also be responsible for controlling behavior on the buses to and from the venue and removing students from the location, if the need arises.
The duo believes that fewer than 10 students engaged in the rowdy behavior that caused problems at last month's pub night. The organizers said that these students, whom they have identified through "eyewitness reports," will not be allowed to attend the event.
"We told [those responsible] that we don't want them to attend the event and we're going to prevent them from appearing," Alwani said.
Alwani and Wong insisted that if the administration brings back Senior Pub Nights, they will see no need to host further Senior Club Life events.
Mourning offered no opinion on their venture but said that if Tufts restores pub nights, there will be no need for the alternative events.
"I don't see them competing with one another," she said.
In the meantime, Senior Class Council President Anita Wu said the class council will keep working to maintain Senior Pub Night.
"We are talking and trying to reach a decision," she said. The future of Senior Pub Night has been put on hold."
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Charlotte Steinway, Alexandra Bogus and Giovanni Russonello contributed reporting to this article.
