Students gathered at Spooky Bash this past Saturday for an on-campus pre-Halloween celebration. Hogwarts at Hamilton and Greek organizations Phi Beta Chi, Alpha Theta Chi and Gamma Xi co-hosted this event in the Annex to bring students together to celebrate the spooky October holiday. Much like the Farm Party hosted in the Annex last spring, which had a mechanical bull, this event offered a variety of activities to entertain students. Spooky Bash offered delicious food, great music and even a Photobooth. This event also offered a bar for students who are 21 and over. As the school hopes to continue hosting more on-campus events, this event was a blueprint for more possible future events.
Nikki Greenberg, Editor for
The Spectator
’s News Section, spoke with Christopher Card, Vice President for student life and Dean of Students to discuss campus-student social life. Greenberg asked Card the ways in which Hamilton will strive to facilitate a safe and inclusive social environment. Card reflected on his thoughts on how he can impact Hamilton’s social culture since he began his position over a year ago. “All things social life were on my radar. It was something I heard about in the interviews for the position. Clearly, once I got to campus, there was a clear sense that particular sins were emerging, if I can call it that, from a pandemic time where folks felt that social outlets had been shuttered, if not minimized,” said Card.
Card hopes to create a “balanced life outside the classroom.” He is open to engaging in conversation with students and faculty on campus about their own concerns about the school’s social life. He is enthusiastic about more on-campus events, and the administration has been brainstorming new forms of organized, on-campus social events. Card explained, “We spent a lot of time and energy thinking about programming, creating new options. Reviving places like the pub, which is a fabulous resource, and by all measures had sort of fallen flat and I’m happy to see the vibrancy come back to that space.”
In response to student voices, Card has been open to discussing on-campus events where alcohol may be present in a controlled manner to students of legal age. “One of the concerns I heard was about large scale events where folks can mingle and connect across the years. So, we started piloting some of the larger scale events, the Farm Party and so forth, where folks can mingle and connect across the years. ” he explained.
Card commented on his conversation with students in Greek life. “When we talk about social life, it’s hard to dissociate the topic of where does alcohol fit into social life. For me, again, it’s back to this notion of a balance. How do we allow folks in an adult community to behave like adults, and have social allotments that the law allows us to do?” Card remarked. He does not believe that a thriving campus social life necessitates drinking, but he is determined to continue these conversations to listen to the voices of students, specifically those in Greek life, “to better support in wholesome ways, you know, what they want to do socially.”
Social events at Little Pub and festivities like Farm Party and the Spooky Bash have emphasized the campus’s ability to legally facilitate environments where alcohol is involved by offering drinks to students with a Pub ID.
In addition to a revamping of on-campus social events, some students have also wondered if the school administration’s recent interference with parties on campus has extended to downtown Clinton. Rumors circulating suggest that the administration has been “cracking down” on off-campus local establishments, such as The Rok and Clinton Wine & Spirits. Card put these rumors to rest.“I had nothing, nothing to do with that. Those are independent establishments. I know of them but there aren’t places that I patronize,” asserted Card.
This year’s Spooky Bash appears to be one of many upcoming on-campus social events as Hamilton administration attempts to create a more robust, school-sponsored social life on the Hill.