Tufts University Police Department shut down Tufts Dance Collective's (TDC) 9:30 p.m. performance last Saturday night as a result of multiple medical emergency calls and unsafe conditions, according to Director of Public and Environmental Safety Kevin Maguire.
The biannual performance held in Cohen Auditorium ended abruptly around 10:15 p.m. when a university official switched on the house lights and announced that the show would not continue.
Maguire explained that TUPD chose to intervene when sanitary conditions within the building began to deteriorate. Numerous students required treatment for alcohol-related illnesses and crowds at the performance became increasingly difficult to manage, he said. Responding officers also discovered a few acts of vandalism on the property.
"[Officers] decided that the event could not continue safely and ended it," Maguire said.
According to Maguire, other details about the performance remain under investigation.
Executive Director of Tufts Emergency Medical Services Paul Pemberton reported that seven students were treated for sickness related to alcohol at the performance. He believes the remainder of the show was cancelled so that emergency teams could locate ill students.
"It sounds to me like they got shut down because there was too high a volume [of people needing medical attention]," Pemberton, a senior, said. "We couldn't get to everybody without turning the lights on and shutting it down."
Shortly after the performance ended, the TDC Executive Board sent an email to students alerting them that all afterparties for the event were cancelled. By calling off the parties, board member Samantha Bloom explained, leaders of TDC hoped to keep students safe.
As of right now, Bloom, a senior, said, the future of TDC is unclear. She and the other board members will meet with university administrators to discuss this point later this week.
