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Student groups vied for cash prizes while entertaining the campus during the Spring 2003 Party Challenge, an initiative designed to create alternative social gatherings at Lafayette.
Following the rules of the competition, each party took place on a Friday or Saturday night in February or March, was substance-free, and included a multi-cultural component or highlighted a specific culture different from the mainstream. All groups and organizations, including residence halls, fraternities, sororities, clubs, and teams, were eligible to enter.
The Party Challenge Committee sent three independent, unidentified judges to each event for a minimum of an hour. The parties were judged and scored on the criteria of theme, decorations, entertainment, activities, food, beverages, multicultural component, efforts to be “earth-friendly,” attendance, and overall enthusiasm.
The winner of the “Best Overall Party” title and $500 prize was Students for Social Justice, which organized a Music for Movements party. The event featured a live performance by local band Real West and a graffiti banner for people to write or draw anything they wanted to express. The banner was hung in the Farinon Center the following week.
“The goal of the night was to educate about activist music, inspire creativity, and create a fun environment for students,” says organizer Danielle Pollaci ’06 (Trenton, N.J.). Pollaci stresses that a major goal was to promote the idea that everyone has a voice that should be heard. The group emphasized this sentiment by playing music by Bob Dylan, Ani di Franco, Rage Against the Machine, and Bob Marley, among other musical activists.
Other contest winners, each receiving a $100 prize, were: McKeen Hall, Italian Party, “Most Creative Theme”; Hillel Society, Purim/Mardi Gras Party, “Best Attendance”; Keefe Volunteer Floor, Crazy Carnival Extravaganza, “Most Earth-Friendly”; Hispanic Society of Lafayette, Latin Night Party, “Best Banner”; and Dry Surfers, Hawaiian Party, “People’s Choice Award.”
The Keefe Volunteer Floor donated its winnings to a community charity.
Spring 2003 Party Challenge was sponsored by TEAM, a consortium of peer education programs; Lafayette Education on Alcohol & Drugs; Played Out, a peer education theater troupe; Lafayette Environmental Awareness and Protection; Lafayette Activities Forum; and Lafayette Intercultural Networking Council. It was organized by Cindy Adams, health education specialist at Lafayette.
“Overall, the event was a huge success,” says Adams. “It created eight great social opportunities for students while hopefully fostering more healthy ideas of what is actually needed to have a great time at college — more than just a six pack or case of beer!”
Those who missed this year’s festivities can look forward to enjoying them in 2003-04 through a grant that will fund another Party Challenge.