Author: Jeremy Childs
Occidental Student Life has established a year-long moratorium on all school-wide dances following the hospitalization of six students at the annual Toga dance this past Saturday, Oct. 26.
“We can’t continue to have these events if we’re constantly calling 911,” Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Life Tamara Rice said.
Toga, which had between 800 and 1000 guests in attendance, is sponsored by local sorority Alpha Lambda Phi Alpha (Alpha) and is Occidental’s largest social event. Art history major Sophie Bielders (senior) and psychology major Madi Tsuji (senior), Alpha’s Social Chairs, issued a statement on behalf of the sorority regarding the alcohol transports at the dance.
“The women of Alpha are dismayed at how many transports there were at the event, and after working so hard to educate and communicate, it is disappointing that the behavior of a few students reflects on all of us as a student body,” Bielders and Tsuji said via email.
Alpha’s education efforts included close collaboration with Residential Education and Housing Services (ResEd), Project S.A.F.E. and the Office of Student Life (OSL) to coordinate “Alcohol Awareness Week,” a series of events preceding the weekend of Toga that promoted alcohol risk-reduction strategies.
In tandem with the events Alpha put on, Rice warned students of the potential consequences excessive drinking would bring in an email sent to the student body the evening before the event.
“If the ‘ugly side’ of Toga continues and overshadows the institutionalized community builder that it is, I will have no other choice than to give large-scale dances a break for a few years. It would be unfortunate (to say the least) if poor choices made tomorrow resulted in depriving future generations of Oxy students the opportunity to enjoy an event
like Toga,” Rice said in the email.
Bielders and Tsuji expressed their compliance with the decision to prohibit on-campus dances.
“We agree with Dean Tamara Rice’s decision to cancel dances, as we recognize that putting on and attending events such as Toga is a privilege and not a right. Though Toga has been a traditional part of the Oxy experience for many years and is a wonderful community-building event, the fact is that if students cannot handle themselves in a responsible and appropriate manner then there is no place for events that exacerbate existing problems. We are grateful to the vast majority of students who did take our message to heart and hope that they enjoyed themselves at the event,” Bielders and Tsuji said.
The cancellation decision has been met with mixed feedback from the student body. Many students view the dances as an essential part of campus social life.
“The dances are a way to bring together people from different classes…I think [cancelling them] will probably have an effect on the cohesiveness of the school community, which is a shame,” undeclared major Elizabeth Seibert (first-year) said.
Other students criticized the effectiveness of the decision, arguing alcohol consumption will continue regardless of bans on events like Toga.
“It’s an inevitability…students are going to have parties…you see other campuses allow students to explore drinking culture in a healthy manner and they have no transports,” English and Comparative Literary Studies major Kate Bustamante (senior) said.
However, Rice believes the large dances intrinsically have a propensity for binge drinking.
“We don’t have multiple transports at concerts, we don’t have multiple transports at home football games, we don’t even have them at smaller dances. We have them at the large dances,” Rice said.
While school-wide dances may no longer be on the campus itinerary for the rest of the school year, Rice hopes students will continue to seek other community-fostering events.
“This [ban] does not mean we can’t have fun, social events. I implore Programming Board and other organizations that typically put on dances to get creative and plan other worthwhile events,” Rice said via email.
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