The alleyway outside World Cafe Live was calm last night. Inside, fraternity brothers sang to a small audience at the Alpha Phi sorority's Karaoke Phi-ver charity event.
A week ago, however, the scene was chaos.
A small riot broke out last Thursday night outside the club when police confronted a group of students waiting to enter the Alpha Chi Omega sorority's Big Man on Campus charity event.
The night resulted in the arrest of two Penn undergraduates. Witnesses said they saw police officers kicking and hitting people in the raucous crowd.
With the event one week behind them, AXO officers announced yesterday that the sorority will refund all ticket fees for students who could not enter their party.
But it seems as if last week's chaos did not lead to an overhaul of procedure at World Cafe Live. Security officers at last night's event said they felt no need to change protocol.
"We just beefed up security a bit more," security guard Howard Williams said, as he surveyed the peaceful crowd. We are "more proactive than reactive."
While Alpha Phi members declined to comment on their choice of venue, many attendees said they were not surprised about the location.
Wharton sophomore Ashley Feinstein said that her friends in Alpha Phi "told us they talked to the bouncers and they said it was going to be fine."
Other than through an e-mail announcement sent to various University listservs, AXO members have declined to comment on BMOC.
Hundreds of students never made it inside World Cafe Live last week because police broke up the crowd of people waiting to enter.
AXO will hand out refunds until 12 p.m. today at their chapter house on Spruce Street to students who still have their tickets.
"Alpha Chi Omega truly regrets the events that occurred last Thursday outside of BMOC," the e-mail read.
The e-mail urged students to refuse the refund because the sorority plans to donate all profits to Women Against Abuse and Philadelphia-based women's shelters.
Some students said they do not want a refund for that reason.
"I wasn't planning on [getting a refund], just because the proceeds go to a philanthropic organization," said College sophomore Michelle Alpert, who bought a ticket but never entered the venue. "I do think it's good that [AXO is] offering ... I know a lot of people were very upset with what happened."
But the fact that the money was going to fight domestic abuse, Alpert said, was "a little ironic."
