U. pulls plug on sophomore tailgate party

The sophomore class should have been eating hoagies and listening to live music in Superblock before the Penn-Bucknell football game Saturday. But instead, the sophomore class tailgate party was cancelled Friday evening due to a general lack of communication on several levels, according to Fran Walker, director of the Office of Student Life Activities and Facilities and the sophomore class adviser. Sophomore Class Board President Brett Lasher said the issue stemmed from an advertisement that ran in Thursday's Daily Pennsylvanian announcing the event. The fact that the ad said "BYOB" -- Bring Your Own Beer -- on the bottom suggested to several administrators that there would be alcohol at the picnic. This was the cause of much concern, since "clearly the entire sophomore class is underage," Walker said. But Lasher said he did not intend to imply that sophomores should be bringing beer. "Originally we were not sure if we were going to provide beverages or not," he said. "Looking back on it I realize it probably should have never been written." Walker said she was contacted by Residential Living on Thursday, who expressed concern that there would be a potential problem. University Police were then notified of the situation. But according to Residential Living Director Gigi Simeone, it was too late. "Had the event been registered earlier, perhaps the security concerns could have been worked through," she said. "But this coming to the police's attention at the very last minute was a problem." Walker said she told Lasher to distribute signs announcing that alcohol would not be allowed at the event, which he did. Then Walker left town to head a student leadership retreat over the weekend. "And then Residential Living and the police and the vice provost's office were all fairly anxious about the potential of this event, and so they decided to cancel it," she said. Lasher said he agreed with the administration's decision, although the board is "a little upset with the way it was handled." He said he was off campus on Friday, and when he returned at 8 p.m. there was a message on his answering machine informing him that the event had been called off and all of the plans had been cancelled. "If it was as important to the administration as they said it was, then it should have been taken care of [on Thursday] instead of after five on Friday," Lasher said. He added that his main concern was that the Sophomore Class Board would lose credibility with the students and with local businesses because the event was cancelled at the last minute. Walker said there were other problems that hurt the situation, including the fact that the board did not get its request in to Physical Plant far enough in advance. This prevented Residential Living from knowing about the event sooner. "It was nobody's fault, and the Sophomore Class Board should not be held responsible by their class for planning a poor event because they worked really hard on this," Walker said. Lasher said the board is hoping to reschedule the event.