Spring Weekend concerns created a he said/she said battle between administrators and IRHA members.
Administrative intervention began last year with the elimination of kegs. Now, there is no hope of any alcohol being served in the townhouse area on Spring Weekend, as has been recent tradition, because of administration concerns for their liability and the students’ health and safety.
Despite the confusion, FUSA President Hutch Williams and the 2008 class council stepped up to organize a compromise to satisfy some student concerns. With the addition of a Sunday event, Spring Weekend will be just that – Friday, Saturday and Sunday festivities. In previous years, Spring Weekend only included events on Friday and Saturday.
Though the Sunday event will not include alcohol, it will be held at the townhouses and will be exclusively for juniors and seniors. Yes, the legacy that is Spam Jam has been altered, but it will not be a lost tradition grouped with the likes of Clam Jam, Forgotten Path and Keg Races.
We applaud Hutch for taking an initiative and responding to student complaints. In so doing, Williams and his colleagues are fixing IRHA’s failed attempt of changing Spam Jam so drastically, the location especially, that it is hardly recognizable.
Unlike virtually every other campus event, the administration will have no part in Spring Weekend Sunday. The food, DJ, games and other entertainment will be solely funded by the 2008 class council and IRHA.
Although Hutch only amended one of two problems regarding location and alcohol distribution for the highly anticipated spring celebration, he did express plans in early March to apply for a floating liquor license that would enable more campus events involving alcohol next year.
If Hutch follows through with his proposal, FUSA will regain its status as an organization for the students instead of being viewed as a puppet of University authority.
And unlike last year, no student will feel pressured to obtain and sign the temporary liquor license required for Spam Jam to occur. No more anxieties about who made the decision to eliminate alcohol should exist because Spring Weekend is already a done deal.
It is encouraging that FUSA followed through on an issue about which students actually care.
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