High Hopes for Harwood Halloween at New Indoor Venue
By Caleb Oken-Berg
News Editor

The Rains Athletic Center will not be open for basketball or volleyball Friday night, but instead will be taken over by a hip-hop concert and thousands of students decked out in a wide variety Halloween costumes.

Rains’ gymnasium is serving as the new location for the annual Harwood Halloween concert, featuring the early-ninties-hip-hop group Naughty by Nature as the main attraction.

Plagued by seven years of noise complaints and early shutdowns, organizers of the event were forced to choose an indoor venue or risk losing the tens-of-thousands of dollars spent on the party.

“Harwood Halloween is the biggest event of the year, so it’s great that there will be the opportunity for it to go on longer than a couple of hours this year,” said Committee for Campus Life and Activities (CCLA) Co-Chair of Annual Events, Megan Cribbs ’06. “It’s going to be exciting.”

Last year’s concert was held outdoors, but due to several noise complaints, was shut down by Claremont Police at 11:20 pm.

“We didn’t want to go down that road again since it costs so much to put the production on,” said Joel Perez, Assistant Director of Smith Campus Center and Student Programs.

This year, CCLA has spent a total $40,000 for both the concert and an after-party in Harwood Courtyard.

Campus Event Commissioner Danielle Ticoulat-Bowers said that CCLA could not afford to have the event shutdown again this year, but also did not want to host the concert in typical indoor party spaces such as Edmonds Ballroom or Big Bridges. As a result, the organization had a discussion with the athletic department about hosting the event in the Rains Center gymnasium.

Charles Katsiaficas, Chair of the Physical Educational Department and Director of Athletics, said that he had some concerns about hosting 2,000 students for a concert in the gym, but was convinced that organizers of the event would take necessary precautions to prevent damage.

“We certainly don’t view Rains Center as a venue for big social events, but at the same time we wanted to be helpful,” he said. “We wanted to be a team player, and pitch in.”

Katsiaficas said that his main concern was the gym floor, which is not easily replaceable. As a result, Ticoulat-Bowers estimates that CCLA is spending at least $7,000 to floor the gym with heavy-duty plastic matting, similar to the padding used on the floors of weight rooms.

Also, to maintain crowd-control and for security purposes, there will be no “ins and outs” at the concert, meaning that once a student enters he or she will not be allowed to leave and then return.

Some students have expressed concern with this policy.

“I think that people will try to drink as much as possible beforehand because they know they won’t be able to leave during the concert,” said Laurah Samuels ’07. “It seems like the policy will do more harm than good.”

Cribbs pointed out that although doors open at 8 pm, Naughty by Nature is only scheduled to play for an hour starting at 9:30 pm. Ticoulat-Bowers concurred, and also mentioned that by hosting a free and separate post-party in Harwood Courtyard, CCLA will be allowed to provide alcohol to students.

“I really wanted the post-party to have alcohol,” Ticoulat-Bowers said. “More people will come, and it avoids the issue of frontloading.”

Dean of Students Ann Quinley believes that although the event is a popular party for students throughout the five colleges, many students use Harwood Halloween as an excuse to drink too much.

“It seems like a time when students take the opportunity to drink beyond their capacity,” Quinley said. “If I believed we could avoid the [alcohol] problems of Harwood Halloween by getting rid of the event, I would.”

However, Quinley admitted that eliminating the party would do little to curb Halloween alcohol use.

Chris Thompson, Sophomore Class President and Senate Liaison to CCLA predicted that overall the event would be successful.

“I think that people are generally a little upset with it being in the gym, but it will be better because the party won’t get shut down,” he said. “Also, it will end up being better overall because we will be able to have the after-party for once.”

Many students have expressed dismay that the concert will be held indoors, but also realize that there is no better option.

“As much as it reminds me of a high school dance, I remember Harwood Halloween being shut down really early last year,” said Tanya Koch ’06. “It sounds like the gym is the only alternative.”

News Editor Justin duRivage contributed to this report.