Following a trial run of the Senior Night on Thursday, Nov. 20 at Taylor’s Nightclub, members of the Senior Night committee organized to review and decide on the fate of bar parties were optimistic about the future of the parties.
‘Most likely we are going to put some type of system into place for the spring semester that will allow bar parties to continue, that will be reviewed at the end of the semester,” Dean of Students Matthew Burns said. ‘It is possible that we will be reviewing and revising our policy regularly.”
Social chair of the 2009 Class Council and senior Mustafa Rehmani said he felt the last Senior Night went extremely well.
‘When I talked to the bar managers and Security, they said we were perfect,” Rehmani said. ‘I fully expect bar parties to be back next semester.”
To receive a wristband needed to get on a bus going to the event, students were required to provide a UR ID as well as a government-issued ID, and they needed to be on a list provided by the registrar of seniors.
Although there were no problems at the bar or on the buses, many people were left off the list that allowed them to participate in the event.
‘There was a flaw in the program used to generate the list and it affected about 100 students,” Burns said.
Rehmani said he and other class council members were upset that some seniors were not able to participate and went to fix the problem the next day.
‘It was really unfortunate, but we got the problem fixed,” he said.
Senior Ryan Cherniak, the president of Psi Upsilon Fraternity, attended the event, but did not think it went as well.
‘Everything was so serious and there was a small turnout because of the hassle of getting on the buses,” he said.
‘It was fun once we got there though, and since it went off without a hitch we should get them back for next semester,” Cherniak said.
Besides the problem with the registrar list, Burns mentioned that congestion could be a problem with greater attendance.
‘At the trial run there were only about 80 people, and normally there are far more, which could cause problems,” he said. ‘Having to check two IDs and the list could create a logjam of people trying to get on the buses. It is possible we don’t really need the list.”
Burns said the committee still had a lot to decide on in its final meetings of the semester, including what to do about under/over nights, whether to limit the number of events in a week and whether to continue the wristband process.
‘The wristbands seem like a really good idea that prevent a lot of problems including the rushing of the buses,” Burns said.
Rehmani, however, had a different view.
‘Although the wristbands worked, it was a big hassle and we need to ask ourselves whether they are worth it,” he said.
He also mentioned that the 2009 Class Council, which plans the events, has to stay at the IT Center and hand out the wristbands instead of enjoying the night they put together.
‘Are we expecting that when sororities have bar parties they are going to stay at ITS all night?” Rehmani asked.
Burns said that the committee was still on schedule to make a solid decision about the busing by the end of the semester.
Brunell is a member of the class of 2012.
