Posted by Julia Leef
For the first time in two years, Moorebid Ball, the College's Halloween tradition, hosted 800 members of the student body for its full duration from 10:30 p.m. to 2 a.m on Oct. 27.
The event, which ticketed a limited number of students and was priced at $10, was hosted in the Big Gym of the Williamson Sports Center. According to Jessica Sonnenfeld '14, vice president of Residential Affairs, class treasurer, and one of the organizers of the event, the Student Government Association sold 750 tickets prior to the event, and by midnight had sold the remaining 50. Thanks to the "Cinderella Policy," which stated that all tickets not brought into Moorebid before midnight would expire and go back on sale, 20 more students were able to enter the gym for the remaining two hours.
"I haven't spoken to anyone from administration yet, but I'm thinking, I'm hoping that the feedback will be mostly positive," Sonnenfeld said, adding that so far she has heard positive feedback from several students, and that she invites anyone with comments or concerns about Moorebid to contact her. She can be reached by her email at jsonnenfe@skidmore.edu.
This year also saw seven hospitalizations of students due to alcohol-related incidents, four of which were called in from Moorebid, and the other three came from residential halls. This number is a drop from the eleven incidents from two years ago. All hospitalized students were later sent back to campus. No other incidents occurred, according to Sonnenfeld.
"I think it's on par, we always have too many hospital transports, but we're always dealing with the same age group here," Director of Campus Safety Dennis Conway said, adding that he approved of the limit on the number of tickets sold for Moorebid.
Conway also said that nothing seemed to come out of the "Occupy Moorebid" movement started on Facebook in protest of the cap on attendance at Moorebid.
When asked if there was any aspect of Moorebid she was already considering adjusting, Sonnefeld said she hopes to obtain a larger budget for the SGA next year in order to decrease the price of tickets for students. This will be determined at the end of this academic year.
"I fully anticipate change for Moorebid in the future," Sonnenfeld said. "I expect the prices of the tickets will be lower, but I can't say definitely."
Conway said, as in years past, a post-Moorebid committee would form to discuss the pros and cons of this year's Moorebid, as well as any change to make for next year.