My latest Friday night on the PVTA did not go as I thought it would.
It was my first night out of Halloweekend, and my expectations were high. It had been a difficult week, so I was looking forward to dressing up and letting loose. Halloween is my favorite holiday, after all. But, standing in between me and my exciting, spooky night out was the usual hour-long bus ride to Amherst.
Whenever I explain this tradition of off-campus partying to my friends from other schools, they are shocked. “Do people just not party at Smith?” they ask me.
I do my best to explain that it’s not the utter lack of a desire for partying, but our college’s outright refusal to let us have fun on campus, that gives rise to this phenomenon and the general lack of any party culture whatsoever at Smith.
To be fair, I would not characterize Smith as completely devoid of nightlife. However, if Halloweekend 2023 were to speak for itself, I feel pretty confident that it would attest to the serious need for more late-night fun on our campus.
Now, allow me to recount my experience:
Arriving at the dreaded PVTA bus stop, my jaw dropped. Crammed onto the sidewalk were enough bodies to fill at least two buses. Most of these individuals were already considerably inebriated (as one needs to be to survive the journey with one’s sanity intact). Within the crowd, my friend and I bumped into two UMass students who were on their way home from the Asian Culture Show. We were immediately sympathetic to the terrible timing to which they were subjected, and tried to help them get to the front of the crowd. Unlike most of us, they were just trying to get home.
But, once the bus arrived, all bets were off, and our hopes were dashed. Cheering and screaming echoed across Elm Street, and the members of the mob prepared themselves for the stampede that was about to ensue. Confident in my ability to push my way through a crowd, I volunteered myself to lead my group of friends and I safely to the other side of the doors.
To my dismay, I was met with a level of pushing and shoving quite unbefitting our elite, historically women’s college. I can hardly imagine what Gloria Steinem would think. Apparently, free will goes out the door when all that stands between you and the Halloween party of your dreams is a packed bus filled with sweat and vomit.
Tragically, my friends and I did not make it on the 10:00 p.m. B43 to Amherst. When it came down to it, the physical and mental toll required to make it onto the bus was not worth the potential fun we had awaiting us. So, we weighed our options and waited for the next bus, which came about an hour later and was still overly packed.
Several thoughts occurred to me as I endured the bus ride to Amherst. First, I felt terrible for the bus driver who had to put up with us. Secondly, wouldn’t it be so much easier if we could just have parties on our own campus? Lastly, on that note, from the looks of things, Smithies would feel a whole lot safer if we were able to do so.
Would the administration of Smith College rather its students take the obvious risks associated with partying on other campuses, or on its own? I’m not sure what the administration’s thoughts are on the matter, but I would argue that Smithies are considerably safer taking these risks on our own campus. At Smith, we enjoy the safety of being relatively insulated from the outside world. And while no college campus is immune to risk, in the worst case scenario, here, we are only a short ride away from Cooley Dickinson Hospital. There also tends to be a noticeable lack of “frat bros” at Smith.
Unfortunately, Campus Safety makes it nearly impossible to have fun on our own campus by swiftly shutting down any Quad basement party or mildly rowdy gathering usually less than an hour after its start.
As an anonymous user expertly stated on the Smith Confessional: “yeah smith’s approach to parties is as stupid as abstinence-only sex ed change my mind.” I have no desire to change this user’s mind; I couldn’t agree more.
Perhaps the administration thinks this behavior is inappropriate for students at such an esteemed institution. This is the alma mater of my esteemed namesake, Barbara Bush, after all. The reality is that we are college students; our brains are still developing, which means we are going to take risks and make regrettable decisions. For some, this means experimenting with various mind-altering substances. I’m not condoning this behavior; I’m just reiterating its inevitability.
But back to Halloweekend. After my Friday night PVTA fiasco, which had disappointing results, I opted to stay on campus on Saturday. My hopes were substantially less high for Fetish, but having the floor cave in just half an hour into the party came as a surprise. Having Campo bust the festivities in Morrow House did not, however.
But when things go wrong, Smithies improvise. Dancing half-naked on the Wilson steps had not been on my forecast for that night, but, despite the cold, it wasn’t half bad, all things considered. My list of complaints against the culture of fun (or lack thereof) at Smith could go on, but it’s moments like this one that give me hope. Even if Campo continues to shut down party after party in Quad house basements, nevertheless, we will persist.
