Between filling final major requirements, researching for honors theses and beginning the dreaded job search, seniors often look to social outlets in hopes of blowing off some steam. But Senior Pub Night, long a Tufts tradition, may no longer be an option for seniors looking to celebrate their final year.
Roughly 600 Tufts seniors attended this year's first Senior Pub Night on Thursday, Sept. 24 at Gypsy Bar in Boston. Although many students said they had had fun at the Senior Class Council-sponsored event, some behavior there has thrown the future of the pub nights into question.
However, many students who attended the event claimed they weren't privy to the gravity of the instances cited in an e-mail that two seniors sent to the entire Class of 2010 over the weekend suggesting Senior Pub Nights had been suspended.
"I thought we all seemed pretty well behaved, despite what it said in the e-mail," senior Alec Jahncke said.
Senior Sarah Cleary agreed. "I don't think it was that sloppy at all … and I was completely sober," Cleary said. "I loved Gypsy Bar — the venue was really cool, and I don't think it got out of hand."
Senior C.J. Mourning, a member of the Senior Class Council, explained that the event did go smoothly for the most part, but on an individual level, certain isolated incidents were responsible for the reaction.
"For the most part it was a great night — everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It really was a select few that ruined the night for the rest of the class," Mourning said.
While admitting that certain individuals indeed committed offensive acts, some seniors claimed the management of the bar was overly stringent in supervising of the night's events.
"The bouncers and the owners of Gypsy Bar ran things almost too strictly," senior Erik Hyman said. "When you're doing a pub night, you're going to expect people to be having a lot of fun — perhaps being rowdy, but not violent or anything."
Hyman told of a specific instance in which he believed the bouncers were being unjust in their treatment of the Tufts seniors.
"At one point, I went [out of the bar] to take a break, and there were all these people outside — the bouncer was telling them, ‘You guys are clearly intoxicated, and a display of everyone who's inside right now, so we're not letting you back in,'" Hyman said.
"These people were my friends, and they were clearly sober. It was pretty arbitrary."
But apart from the bouncers' actions, Hyman said he had enjoyed himself at the event.
"It was a nice bar, the drinks were very well done, even though they were expensive. It was also my 21st birthday, so that was fun," he said.
Discussing the future of Senior Pub Nights, Mourning said it will take a series of talks with both the students as well as the administration before distinct conclusions can be drawn.
"In terms of what we could do differently, we're working with the administration to make sure that people don't [hold] the school accountable for accidents, so that they know that if a student messes up, there will be personal repercussions," Mourning said.
Seniors Raoul Alwani and Kevin Wong sent out an e-mail on Saturday saying that "official Tufts pub nights have been suspended." In truth, Mourning said, while the administration had initially moved to cancel all Senior Pub Nights this semester in the wake of last month's event, the Senior Class Council is negotiating to salvage some pub nights this fall.
"Everything's so up in the air in terms of the administration that it's hard to say anything in terms of the rest of the year. We'll hope to have answers later this week, and hopefully they'll be good answers," Mourning said.
But with the future of Senior Class Council-sponsored pub nights in question, Alwani and Wong spotted an opportunity: They created "Senior Club Life," a program sponsoring so-called Senior Club Nights in lieu of the traditional pub nights, and announced it in their e-mail to seniors.
The venture has proved successful: Tickets for the first club night, to be held on Oct. 28, have already sold out. Mourning said that the Senior Pub Night that was also scheduled for Halloween is almost certain to be canceled.
Since the Senior Club Night was announced via e-mail Oct.10, more than half the senior class has pre-registered for the event, and many have welcomed it with open arms.
Senior Ty Burdette, for one, sees it as potentially superior to Senior Pub Nights. "I think [the Senior Club Night] is a better solution because it's treating it like a private party," Burdette said.
