In light of unruly behavior during last year's annual Winter Bash celebration, the Sophomore Class Council will hold a new winter event instead of Winter Bash this year.
Vice President of Social Programming for the class of 2016 MauriHonickman confirmed the changes, stating that Programming Board is still intent on hosting a wintertime gathering.
"Yes, Winter Bash isn't happening, but this [new event] isn't a replacement," Honickman, a sophomore, said. "It's a different type of event altogether.
It's going to be very fun."
Although Honickman was unable to reveal many details about the new event's format, she believes the event will likely be held in a downtown Boston location - at either a club or a hotel - and that ticket prices will remain $10.
One certainty is that only a limited number of students will be allowed to attend, Honickman said. This is consistent with ticket sales for this semester's first Fall Gala, which were limited to 1,200 spots rather than the usual 2,500 tickets available for Fall Ball.
Honickman estimates that there will be space for about 1,500 students.
Office of Campus Life Director Joe Golia explained that the number of attendants is very important in predicting an event's success. The size and location of campus, too, can make it difficult to host large events.
"We're in a very weird spot," Golia said. "We're a big school, but not that big. When you go to a school with 20,000 people, no one ever talks about a campus-wide event."
Golia added that Winter Bash has always been limited to a certain number of students.
"It just happens that, in the past, we were able to accommodate the 2,800 to 3,000 students that wanted to attend," he said.
Student Allison Reid likes the recent changes to annual events, saying that the smaller events add to a better sense of community.
"Having smaller, more formal events makes it more special than a crowded dance, [which sets it apart from] most other college parties," Reid, a sophomore, said.
Honickman added that more details about the event will be released in the near future.
"We will have a big announcement with all the details in the coming weeks," she said.
Golia hopes students will see this new gathering as a typical Programming Board event and encourages other student groups to host activities on the same night.
"In the past, no one wanted, or could, do anything on campus that night because our resources were dedicated to Winter Bash," he said. "However, not every student will be able to attend this event, and it shouldn't be seen as the 'be all and end all' of Tufts events."
Golia explained that Programming Board has also restructured the way it hosts festivities. Large-scale events hosted by the university were oftentimes planned without help from specific student organizations, thereby causing difficulties.
"We took four of the major annual events and gave them a home and a group of students to take charge," he said.
According to Golia, the Junior Class Council was made responsible for Fall Gala, the Senior Class Council was put in charge of Homecoming and the Freshmen Class Council was directed to host Tufttonia's Day. The Sophomore Class Council will manage this new winter event.
Golia is content with the new planning strategy.
"[The restructuring] has proved to be very successful because you have multiple students working on each event, rather than just two chairs and an advisor," Golia said.
Honickman hopes students will enjoy the changes that the Sophomore Class Council has in store.
"Even though it's a different type of event, we hope people are still excited about it," Honickman said.
