Student initiatives are being credited for an apparent decline in crime and alcohol abuse during last weekend's Spring Fling. But no one is saying whether the festival will stay in the Quad.
Administrators like Vice Provost for University Life Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum said student groups "stepped up" during Fling this year to make the festival safer.
She and others cited efforts such as a new student-run emergency response service and an expanded student volunteer safety program as helping to curb dangerous behavior during the weekend of events.
This year's Fling was cast as a test to see whether levels of alcohol abuse and property damage would warrant removing the annual celebration from its traditional location.
At a University Council meeting last November, Provost Ron Daniels said he wanted to see a decline in what he called self-destructive behavior during the festival.
Preliminary data suggests that self-destructive behavior decreased this year.
So far, the records show that police responded to 33 crime and alcohol incidents last weekend. There were 44 such incidents during Fling 2005.
"I have never in my 29 years at Penn ... seen such a strong, committed and passionate leadership profile in putting together a student event," McCoullum said.
She praised the work of all the Fling coordinators and the three Fling co-directors for doing everything in their ability to change the nature of the weekend.
McCoullum added that Fling stayed in the Quadrangle this year thanks to the work of student leaders who worked to change the event's culture.
But since the provost did not precisely say what changes it would take to keep Fling in the Quad next year, McCoullum said she could not make any guarantees about future locations.
The University will base its decision for next year's venue on data from the Penn Police, College House incident reports, Facilities Services damages reports and attendance data from Fling events, McCoullum said.
Those data, she added, will likely be tabulated and released by the middle of next week.
"There was no specific criteria, but [the administration] wanted to see a marked improvement, and I think that did occur from last year to this year," SPEC Director and Wharton junior Catey Mark said.
Daniels was not available for comment.
Director of Student Life Fran Walker and Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives Stephanie Ives said it is still too early to tell whether Fling will be able to remain in the Quad next year because all the crime and facilities damage data have not yet been released.
"What I saw personally seemed to be an improvement over previous years -- less obvious out-of-control behavior, but I haven't seen any incident reports," Walker wrote in an e-mail.
Spring Fling co-Director and College senior Jake Chanin said that "students were well-behaved and acted responsibly" this year.
