When I was younger, I imagined college parties to be something out of the movies—huge frat extravaganzas that transported you to another world once you stepped foot in them.
But coming to a small school really changed how I view party culture. In fact, it’s the complete opposite of what I thought it would be. Here, people only host on Saturday nights, and those events only last a few hours. Compared to what I’ve heard from friends who go to schools like Penn State or the University of Alabama, they could party every day of the week, and some parties can last from sunset to sunrise.
When I realized this is how parties would run for my duration of being here for school, I couldn’t help but be disappointed – should we not be able to have these big party experiences that we’ve seen since childhood?
But apparently, it hasn’t always been this way. I spoke to a current senior, Gianna McCarthy, about her experience as a freshman, and this is what she had to say: “I would say both Friday and Saturday nights were popular, but it was definitely more Saturday night heavy. You could always rely on having a lot of parties to pick from, and Reimert was always packed, and there were a lot of suites you could pick from. People also went all out for the themed parties, and I knew a few people who would do costume changes in one night. It was also a big way for Greek Organizations to meet potential new members.”
But now, we can see that, in reality, it isn’t like this at all. And yes, parties aren’t everyone’s thing, which I respect, but for the people who do enjoy going, there aren’t many options for them. There’s also the idea that a good portion of the student body goes home for the weekend. Would having parties help increase the number of students staying on campus?
There’s also the idea of the sexualization of women in party culture that may turn people away from it. No matter what girls are wearing, there’s always a creep commenting on her and her body. This understandably makes women nervous about going out. It feels like women can never catch a break, and parties certainly aren’t an exception. I may not know how to fix this problem, but I can and will encourage women to stand up for themselves if this happens to them!
While I don’t think these changes can happen overnight, I think we can eventually bring parties back to what they once were, hopefully with lots of costume parties 🙂