Hal Wershow '07 rocks out amidst large crowds in the Rains Center. The gymnasium played host to the annual Harwood Halloween concert.

Four Sent to Hospital at a Rainy Harwood Halloween Celebration

By Lori DesRochers
News Associate

For the first time in seven years, the Harwood Halloween concert and party were allowed to continue late into the night without a single noise complaint or threat of being shut down.

However, cold, rainy weather forced the Committe on Campus Life and Activities (CCLA) to move the Harwood Courtyard afterparty into Edmunds Ballroom, and the sub-free party into Frary—a location too small for the highly anticipated lasertag game.

“This year we were really really hoping to bring the party back to Harwood courtyard. I was so excited, and I thought that it would have been amazing, but the rain caused us to change plans at about noon on Friday and come up with a completely new setup,” said CCLA Co-Chair of Annual Events Megan Cribbs ’06, one of the key organizers of the event. “I was really disappointed at first that the party was moved, but I think that the Smith Campus Center ended up working out really well.”

It is hard to say whether the changed set up helped to deal with alcohol-related issues or not. On one hand, only two Pomona students were transported to the hospital as a result of alcohol poisoning, in comparison to three students last year. Furthermore, neither of the hospitalizations were first-years. However, this year there were additionally two non-Pomona students taken to the hospital—one from Occidental, and one from Harvey Mudd.

“[Harwood Halloween] is always a little bit of an unsettling event because it seems to carry with it a lot of abuse of alcohol. To see somebody that sick from using alcohol is ever so upsetting,” said Dean of Students Ann Quinley, who was on-call throughout the evening.

According to Quinley, it is a well-known fact within the community that students tend to push their limits when it comes to consuming alcohol on the night of Harwood Halloween, and the Deans do all that they can to inform students of the dangers of alcohol consumption prior to the event. Quinley noted that she was happy with the sponsors for their help in warning sponsees of the dangers of overconsumption, and counts it a success that no first-year students were involved with incidences of alcohol poisoning. But there is clearly a larger problem related to alcohol consumption at the event.

“I want students to have fun, but I want them to do it in a safe way. There’s a certain amount of peer pressure at Pomona that exists when it comes to alcohol. Students find it difficult to say no for fear of not being accepted, and that concerns me. I think it’s something we seriously need to address,” said Associate Dean of Campus Life Frank Bedoya. “How do we stop it? I don’t know. How do we try to prevent it from happening again? I don’t know. I’m at a loss.”

In spite of the ambulances and police officers situated on every street, and the sight of their fellow students being wheeled away on stretchers, students seemed to enjoy themselves at both the Naughty By Nature concert and at the Edmunds Ballroom afterparty. Partygoers praised the raucous hip hop environment at the concert, the thrill of dancing on stage with Naughty By Nature during their signature song, and the large turnout at the afterparty.

“I’m really, really happy with the way that Harwood turned out this year. I think that it was really successful,” said Cribbs. “The concert almost sold out, and the party was packed. Most people seemed to have a lot of fun, and I’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback.”

The decision to hold the Naughty By Nature concert in the Rains Center, instead of outdoors, proved to be a successful decision, as the noise was well contained within the walls of the gym. But the additional $7,000 that it cost to cover the gym floor put CCLA $6,000 over their initial $40,000 budget. Also, only 1,500 of 2,000 tickets were sold, well below CCLA expectations.

Also, some students were turned off by the fact that the concert was held indoors. “I went to Harwood Halloween last year and thought it was awesome before it got shut down, but this year I felt like having it in Rains would mean too many drunk people stuffed into a hot room. It didn’t sound like it would be as fun,” said Kathleen Foley ’06.

The other concern with this year’s event was the lack of promotion for the non-alcoholic alternative party. Next year, party planners hope to provide an attractive event for all students that is comparable to Harwood Halloween.

“Harwood Halloween is not a fun event for students who don’t drink. The number of students who party in excess takes away the fun from those who do not drink.” said Bedoya.