The term “Clam Jam” is synonymous with Fairfield, but for all the wrong reasons. This year, the annual Clam Jam celebration will be undergoing some major changes in an attempt to change the culture behind the event itself, but not everyone is happy about such a drastic shift from the norm.
However, if no one takes the initiative to make a change, as this year’s Beach Residents Advocacy Group committee has worked to do, the event will be taken away forever, and those underclassmen who are currently complaining about not having a ticket this year will never have one.
Underclassmen are now upset over the fact that they were not able to receive one of the coveted tickets for Clam Jam 2015. While some underclassmen are wondering how Fairfield can claim to sponsor a school-wide event like Clam Jam if the entire student body is not able to attend, they will simply have to have to wait their turn.
We would love for all of the classes to experience Clam Jam, but even when the planning of Clam Jam 2015 was still in the works, there was never any promise that all classes would be admitted into the event.
Additionally, given the permits that the town of Fairfield has in place, only 1,500 individuals are allowed to be on the beach at any given time. The University had to work and negotiate with the town of Fairfield’s restrictions on capacity for the event at the beach.
As the 2014-2015 Fairfield University Student Association Student Body President Alex Cucchi ‘15 stated in his open letter to the students about this year’s Clam Jam, “The reality is that this was the only way to keep the tradition of Clam Jam from being taken away completely.” Cucchi is right.
For many years, Clam Jam has been an alcohol-fueled, day-long party which would draw thousands of individuals to Lantern Point, a beachfront enclave of private homes at the intersection of Reef Road and Fairfield Beach Road. The raucous crowd would often spill onto the beach and the streets, prompting numerous complaints from neighbors, which would then result in student arrests for disorderly conduct and underage drinking.
So, this year in order to control such chaos, Fairfield’s BRAG decided to come together with University administration and staff members to organize an event which everyone could “enjoy.” No one likes such change, that’s a given, but after the mess that was Clam Jam 2014, things should, theoretically, only get better from here.
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