News | Old Gold & Black
Thursday, September 19, 2013 | Page 5
Barn: Students frustrated with Barn policies Continued from Page 1
50 40
Number of IFC events held at the Barn last semester
11
Number of IFC events scheduled at the Barn this semester
2 8
Fall ‘13
Spring ‘13
Fall ‘12
20
Spring ‘12
30
10
0
Number of IFC events scheduled at the Barn this semester that have been cancelled
60
Fall ‘11
Number of Events Scheduled at Barn
academic year that required security for all events where students were coming from other college campuses. Then after gathering research and student and staff feedback, a committee headed by former Vice President Ken Zick decided to implement the new security guideline this semester. But for many students, this new guideline is dissuading them from hosting or attending parties in the Barn. “This will clearly scare a large majority of people away from Barn events,” said senior Halston Kirkpatrick, the president of Sigma Alpha Epsilon. “Students do not like cops.” Junior Chandler Rodriguez also has reservations about the new rule. “I do not feel as comfortable (going to events at the Barn),” Rodriguez said. “It’s a beneficial thing to have [police] there for safety, but at the same time I think a lot of students are going to be turned off by going to parties where there are going to be security officers there.” But Carlson states that the new procedures have not yet had an effect on the use of the Barn. “I have not seen it hinder use of the space yet,” Carlson said, “as we still have a lot of events scheduled for this semester, including IFC fraternity parties.” Sophomore Jack Markham, who is the social chair of Chi Psi Fraternity, also seems to think that this new regulation will have a minimal effect on attendance of parties held at the Barn. “It may shy kids away because they will see someone in a security guard outfit,” Markham said, “and therefore worry
about getting caught drinking, but I do not think it will be a drastic change and most people that were planning on going would just go anyway.” Some students even believe that having a security officer present during events held at the Barn could have a positive impact, if they were there only to look out for student’s safety and not to look into behavioral violations, especially underage drinking. “It depends what their purpose is,” said sophomore Savannah Valverde Twiggs, “if their use is just to make sure people are safe and fights aren’t happening, I would almost rather there be a security officer there.” But other students like Rodriguez believe this new policy could just fuel the off-campus partying that administrators is trying to eliminate. “(The policy) will only attract people to go off campus and have parties there instead,” Rodriguez said. “This will only hurt Wake Forest more because the Barn was supposed to be a safe community where students could go and stay on campus and not have to worry about things too much.” Carlson added that the administration is willing to assess policies for the Barn at the end of the semester and is willing to make changes as needed. But for many students, serious changes, including changes to the closing time, which is currently midnight on weekdays and 2 a.m. on weekends, will have to be made for the Barn to once again become a popular venue for parties. “It is safe to say that very few Greek organizations will be using the Barn this semester,” Kirkpatrick said. “In fact, multiple groups including mine have already cancelled events. The future for the Barn looks very bleak.”
Semester
Number of possible dates for IFC social events at the Barn this semester Graphic by Molly Dutmers/Old Gold & Black
BRIEFLIES
Chi Omega wins Greeks Go Green competition
Mutlicultural Affairs kicks off signature speaker series
Active Minds organization hosts ALIVE! Metal Health Fair
Greeks Go Green is a competition put on by the Office of Sustainability in which different Greek chapters on campus compete to be the most sustainable chapter on campus. The Greeks Go Green competition aims to involve members of the Greek community in sustainabiliy initiatives on campus. Each semester the winning chapters gets an award recognizing their commitment to sustainability. The Office of Sustainability would like to congratulate Chi Omega on winning the Most Sustainabile Chapter Award.
The office of Multicultural Affairs along with the Women’s center will begin the 2013-2014 signature speaker series, “Journeys to Success” at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 in Z. Smith Reynolds Library Room 404. The guest speaker will be Valeisha Butterfield Jones, businesswoman, political strategist and co-founder of and chair of Women in Entertainment Empowerent Network. A workshop will be held earlier in the day. To sign up for the workshop register at womenscenter. wfu.edu/events/valeisha-butterfield-jones/.
Active Minds student run organization hosts ALIVE! Mental Health Fair Oct. 1 in Benson University Center Rooms 409 and 410. The fair is a program of the Kristin Brooks Hope Center and is sponsored by the Benjamin Louis May Fund. It was created to provide a educational suicide prevention program aimed at college students. Students will be given the opportunity to go through suicide prevention training session and engage in interactive exhibits dealing with mental health awareness.