Final Dance of the Year Cancelled Due to Safety Concerns

The Block Party dance, which has been hosted on the street between Soule Hall and Peabody Hall in past years, will not be held this year due to safety concerns. Those involved with organizing the dance, including the Student Activities office, felt that it could not be held safely outside, and the dorms involved in the planning felt that the dance would lose its appeal if it were held indoors.

Assistant director of student activities Kelly McGahie explained how conversations around dances shifted during this past school year. “We’re having all these conversations on campus about sex, sexuality, sexual misconduct ... that certainly impacted the conversation at the start of the year about dances and what might be appropriate there and an expansion of that,” she said.

“I’m kind of bummed because it’s an event that usually has a great turnout.”

During conversations surrounding the dances, students brought up Block Party’s reputation as “the dance that everyone decided to drink at.” McGahie noted that the weekend on which Block Party has traditionally been held has typically been one that has resulted in a large number of discipline cases for students. “It’s the weekend when, for whatever reason, everybody makes poor choices. Statistically a higher number of individuals on campus choose to make poor choices. A statistically higher number of those individuals are caught; some of those individuals are barred from graduating. Some of them are required to withdraw,” she said.

McGahie pressed that it was not the dance itself that caused students to make unhealthy decisions. “That event doesn’t cause people to [make poor choices] per se, but it sort of has a party atmosphere to it,” she said.

McGahie also recognized that while cancelling the dance cannot prevent students from making bad decisions, those organizing the dance must recognize the safety concerns that come with it. “It’s not that if we don’t put that dance on the calendar outside no one would make poor choices. Nobody is saying that that is what’s going to happen. But we’re also not going to not pay attention,” McGahie said.

Senior Soren Blomquist, a resident of Abbot, agreed with the perception of Block Party being a dance prone to unhealthy decisions, but attributed this to the timing of the dance, rather than the dance itself. “I’d agree with the faculty in that Block Party is the night where the most kids get in trouble every year, but that has much more to do with the timing of the dance, not the dance itself. I’m not sure that cancelling Block Party will reduce the number of kids doing stupid things their last weekend on campus,” he said.

As a result of these discussions, those involved in planning the dance came to the conclusion that the dance could not be held outside.

She stressed that the cancellation of block party was not a punishment in any way but a decision that was made following thorough discussion by those involved in planning it. “I hope no one views this as punitive because that certainly wasn’t the intent,” she said.

Some students of the dorms that traditionally hold the dance were upset and disappointed by the decision to cancel this year. Upper Austin Scronce, a proctor in Peabody Hall, noted the significance of Block Party in Peabody dorm culture and in the culture of Exeter’s spring term. “It’s upsetting that our dance was cancelled and unable to be relocated. Block Party was a big part of Exeter’s spring term, and it gave Peabody a sense of pride that our dance was so highly thought of in the community,” he said.

Upper Luis Ochoa, also a resident in Peabody Hall, expressed similar sentiments. He believed that Block Party was a great way to end the school year and expressed disappointment at the dance’s cancellation as it was the dorm’s only major event for the year and “gave a sense of dorm pride.”

Blomquist noted the positive effect that Block Party has had on stress levels and was displeased as a result of the cancellation. “I’ve always been a big fan of Block Party. It’s a great way to end the year and to destress before finals week. I was really disappointed when I heard we wouldn’t be having it this year,” he said.

Upper Tayo Zenger, a resident in Soule Hall, was surprised that Block Party was not being held, as historically it has been very popular. “I’m kind of bummed because it’s an event that usually has a great turnout. A lot of people seem to have enjoyed it in the past which is why I am surprised that they cancelled it. Also it’s nice to have a school wide event like this one to end off the year, especially since in the past it has had a better turnout than other events,” he said.

Not all students were as upset by Block Party’s cancellation. Lower Amanda Sherwood expressed a lack of interest in the event not happening. “I’m pretty indifferent to the fact that block party isn’t happening,” she said.

Although no solid plan has been set to replace the event as the last event of the term, the Recreational Committee of Student Council and Student Activities are working to find a solution.

Zenger expressed a desire for those planning the replacement events to find a similarly fun and stress-relieving event to hold at the end of the year.  “I hope they can at least replace it with something else that can provide a similar outlet for students to relax and enjoy themselves,” Zenger said.