By Leah Rogers
Writer
House Party Weekend – Bucknellians Gone Wild?
It’s the one event that everyone talks about the entire year: House Party Weekend. As a first-year student, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I had heard it gets pretty crazy, and judging from what a normal weekend on campus is like I knew we were in for a wild few days.
Although somewhat out of control, everybody had a great time and the school did an excellent job of keeping the students safe throughout the weekend. Everyone had to wear wristbands to get into parties and could only be seen drinking if they had “21+” wristbands. I think this was a good way to keep the students from getting in trouble and receiving points.
Public Safety also played a huge role in maintaining the students’ safety. There were officers walking around everywhere, even inside Bostwick Marketplace. I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by officers circulating the cafeteria while I was just trying to eat my food in peace, but they were just there to keep everything under control.
I was surprised to see just how excessively people partied during the weekend. People on my hall started Thursday night, then continued early Friday morning. Some students ended up going to class drunk on Friday, which I thought was inappropriate.
The shenanigans continued into Saturday morning and night as well. I didn’t think it was too healthy for students to be drinking constantly for three days and nights straight, but the atmosphere of the weekend encourages it.
Although the University says students under 21 are not allowed to drink, they know it is going to happen. The Bostwick Marketplace plates and silverware were replaced with paper and plastic for the weekend, which was a sign that the University knew things were going to get a little crazy.
House Party Weekend can be somewhat risky, but it is a long-standing and much talked about tradition that will continue for years into the future. And I have to admit, it was pretty entertaining to see the excessive list of lost and found items in the Message Center Digest the next day.