Fewer alcohol-related incidents and a tamer atmosphere in the Gantcher Center led organizers and attendees to call Friday's Fall Ball event a success, even as students vented their frustration with the ticket distribution process.
The event marked the second Fall Ball that capped capacity at 2,500 and the first since the dance became a ticket event last year in which organizers distributed all available tickets. Organizers had instituted a limit on attendance due to fire code regulations and limited bathroom facilities in the Gantcher Center, where the annual dance takes place.
"The event went off without a hitch," senior Sarah Habib, a co-chair of Programming Board, said. Programming Board is one of the groups that organized the campus-wide party.
Junior Kayla Murdock, the executive director of Tufts Emergency Medical Services (TEMS), agreed that the event went smoothly.
TEMS received four alcohol-related calls, all of which required transport to the hospital, Murdock said. Last year, five calls came in to TEMS during the event; both figures are significant decreases from previous years.
Habib said that student behavior was a "big step up" from years past, when reports circulated of violent behavior toward security staff and students urinating on the floor.
Tufts Community Union (TCU) President Sam Wallis said that this year's minimal incidents reflected a change in drinking culture on campus, citing the large amount of discussion last year that centered on Tufts' alcohol policy.
"I think we're seeing somewhat of a culture shift," Wallis, a senior, said. "A lot of people realized that if things continued, the administration would get more restrictive."
Sophomore Michael Fishman said that he enjoyed a calmer event this year in regard to crowds and student intoxication. Katherine Hegarty, also a sophomore, called the event better organized than last year's and agreed that students were not noticeably rowdy or inebriated.
"I think, more than anything, people don't want to go crazy at the beginning of the year," she said.
TCU senators, Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) officers, TEMS volunteers and others staffed the event.
While Fall Ball drew praise, students widely criticized the ticket distribution process.
The Office for Campus Life (OCL) made available 600 tickets daily on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week and gave out 700 on Friday. All 2,500 had run out by 11:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Habib.
The OCL instilled several changes to this year's distribution process in response to concerns about last year's distribution, which was marked by long lines and significant waiting times.
In order to prevent students from waiting in line only to reach the front to find all the tickets for that day given out, organizers this year handed out slips of paper to students who would then be guaranteed a ticket. To receive a ticket, students had to show the slip along with their student identification card.
Those who had received the paper confirmation could leave and return later to pick up their ticket, Habib said.
"We're trying to create a new system that would help facilitate ticket distribution and keep kids from waiting in line," she said.
Despite the addition of the special slips of paper, some students complained of line-cutting and the heavy volume of ticket-seekers. Hegarty said that she was told by a TUPD officer that she had to stay in line in order to get a ticket.
"It was horrible," she said. "I understand the necessity of handing out the paper tickets before the real ones, but it was so poorly organized."
Others resorted to more devious means to obtain a ticket.
One senior said he showed up to wait in line several times last week but was deterred from staying because of the long wait. So he made a fake ticket instead.
"I think it was a huge waste of time because we're trying to study and get adapted to the first week of school," the senior, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said. "It's a better use of time to just make a fake ticket."
Both Habib and Wallis said they heard few reports of students who wanted to attend but could not obtain a ticket. Yet anecdotal accounts suggest demand remained strong for tickets sold or distributed through less official channels.
Junior Jane Yoon said that 20 people contacted her when she posted on Facebook that she was giving her ticket away. She had stood in line for an hour and a half to get a ticket but later decided not to attend Fall Ball.
Another senior, who requested anonymity, said that he scanned his ticket into his computer and copied it for a friend, who then sold his ticket to another student for $40.
Habib said she was not aware of any reports of fake ticketing. OCL's event staff, composed of student workers, checked tickets and identification at the Gantcher entrance.
"Event staff felt [the tickets] to see if they were real, but only to a point," the senior said.
Because of the cap on attendance, organizers offered two other events on Friday as alternatives. A hypnotist performed in Cohen Auditorium, while Hotung Café hosted a trivia challenge.
For senior Evan Chiacchiaro, though, programming alternatives like these are not equivalent to the Fall Ball experience. Chiacchiaro arrived at the Mayer Campus Center on Friday after tickets sold out.
"They are better alternatives for people who have no interest in Fall Ball, not people who were interested in going but couldn't get a ticket," he said.
