Since its start four years ago, the annual Townhouse event named ‘Around the World’ that occurs in mid-April has been under fire for racial insensitivity. After recent events occurred at Fairfield regarding diversity issues, the University has made the decision to implement a new tradition.
The event has not been canceled, but the theme has been changed from an event celebrating countries’ cultures to an event that will celebrate the decades called “Townhouse Time Travel.”
According to junior RHA Co-President of the Dolan and Townhouse area, Anya Cullen, ‘Around the World’ was an event originally intended to “celebrate various cultures from around the world.” In the past, students living in the Townhouses and Dolan area were assigned a specific country and would then decorate their houses and dress in ways they felt represented the culture of that specific country.
However, the University found that this event often lead students to portray cultures in degrading ways. After the “ghetto-themed” party that occurred in February, an open forum was held where students expressed their concerns about diversity on campus. ‘Around the World,’ according to Cullen, was brought up on several instances.
“Many students came forward saying it was very frustrating that there was such a huge backlash toward the ‘ghetto party’ that was held off-campus, meanwhile there is an annual event [‘Around the World’] that condones similar types of cultural representations,” said Cullen.
After the forum, the University, including faculty, staff and students decided that ‘Around the World’ was not serving its intended purpose and it needed to be changed in order to continue the event. Ultimately, the RHA of D-town, a term for the Townhouse and Dolan residences, came up with the time-traveling event.
Rather than dressing up in ways to portray a culture, students are asked to, according to an email sent to those living in D-town, “wear your grooviest, raddest and most far out outfit from whatever decade you want.”
The change in theme immediately received backlash from the student body, who had been hoping to keep the event the same or to even change the theme to “Around the U.S.A.”
“The new theme seems really limited to me,” said Katie Talamelli ‘17. “People liked that the old theme was so versatile being that there are so many countries to choose from, whereas decades doesn’t give students the option to be as unique and creative.”
She continued, adding that she would hope after an event like the “ghetto party,” students would be more culturally aware.
“I think that in light of what happened earlier this year, students have to be aware of how they are portraying other cultures and backgrounds,” said Talamelli. “I would hope that if we were allowed to do ‘Around the World’ or even my suggestion of ‘Around the USA’ that people would simply be a little bit smarter about it.”
However, the University felt that ‘Around the U.S.A.’ would still cause similar cultural misappropriations on a smaller scale. In order to prevent any of these issues, Cullen stated that “we [RHA] did not want to leave any room for this type of cultural appropriation in order to ensure that every student within our community felt safe and could enjoy the event.”
For those looking to express their opinions and ask questions about the event, the RHA co-presidents, Cullen and Monica Wojtal ‘17 will be holding an open forum on Wednesday, April 13 in the Dolan Lounge at 11 a.m.
Although the theme has changed, the event will be conducted in a similar way. The event, which is only open to the junior class and those living in the D-town area, will take place on Saturday, April 23. As stated by Cullen, there will be music by Fairfield’s own DJ Greg T, lawn games, free food, prizes and a decade-themed candy shop.
Leave a Reply