Hey Day changes generate debate

Martin Naradiki doesn't want to be treated like a baby.

"I am a second-semester senior," the College senior said. "I'm not a three-year-old child who needs to be placed in a playpen with music and food."

Naradiki, referring to the recently drafted changes to this year's Hey Day, represents a growing sentiment that has surfaced since an e-mail was sent Wednesday night to the senior and junior classes delineating the new regulations for the 91-year-old tradition.

These changes include having members of the senior class sign a "pledge of responsibility" that they will not haze juniors.

Upon committing, they will then be eligible to receive free food and a T-shirt and hear a performance from musician Kenn Kweder of Smokey Joe's fame. Seniors will also receive "safe and celebratory items" to use during the junior passage on Locust Walk, according to the e-mail.

But despite these efforts, which began in response to the University's threat to cancel Hey Day after complaints about the safety of last year's event, students doubt whether this type of revamping will be effective.

"I don't think their attempts will stop hazing altogether," College senior Kellyn Goler said.

Goler called the food-throwing both "a right of passage and a tradition" for the junior class.

College senior Julie Sheetz considered University efforts to control student behavior a deterrent from the spirit of the event - a sentiment echoed by other students, too.

"I will not be bought out of a tradition," Naradiki said. "I will not bend over and take it from the administration. I'm calling their bluff."

Despite the increasing number of complaints, architects of the plan remain confident that the new Hey Day will be successful and believe students will respond positively to the steps being taken.

"I think we will see substantial progress this year," said Brett Thalmann, a Wharton senior and the chairman of the Undergraduate Assembly, which is involved in developing the plan for this year's Hey Day.

Wharton senior and class president Andrew Kaplan added that many seniors he knows are happy about the change and added that, although hazing "has developed in the last few years," it is not a part of the original tradition.

As part of its efforts, the Hey Day working group will hold a gathering for the senior class before the juniors' procession up Locust Walk, Kaplan said.

The working group, comprised of representatives from the junior and senior class boards, the Undergraduate Assembly, the Office of the Vice Provost for University Life, the President's office, the Provost's office and the Division of Public Safety, has been developing these changes since last Hey Day. It will continue to do so up until the event, which is scheduled for April 20.

"We see the next month as a time to revise and alter the plan," Kaplan said. "It is not set in stone."

The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life declined to comment.

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