U. officials design stricter guest policy for Fling

Stricter admission and guest policies will be enforced during Spring Fling this year as administrators hope to curb destructive activity.

Guest passes are now limited to two per Penn student and must be shown with another valid picture ID to enter the Quadrangle from Wednesday, April 14 at 5 p.m. until Sunday, April 18 at 10 a.m. The total number of guest passes has also been restricted; at most, 2,500 passes can be sold.

The Office of the Vice Provost for University Life is responsible for enacting the new limitation on guest passes.

According to the VPUL Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum, the change was enacted due to vandalism and destructive activities that occurred in the Quad last year after official Spring Fling events had ended for the night.

McCoullum pointed out that "most of these serious bad acts were committed by non-Penn students." This, she said, was why the change was made to "limit the access of non-Penn, non-community members to the Quad."

The newly enforced guest pass regulation was instituted by the Office of the VPUL after requests were made by members of the college house staff.

"The college houses are particularly hoping that the quality of life for Quad residents will be better this year," McCoullum said.

"I want to emphasize that the formal Fling activities, as experienced by all of us, were absolutely fabulous," McCoullum said.

But McCoullum pointed out that last year, "there were a lot of what I would call 'adverse events.' The most serious events were deeply concerning medical emergencies," such as people being rushed to the hospital for alcohol poisoning.

Other officials also voiced concerns about destructive behavior during Fling.

"To sum it up, the non-formal events that took place after hours were where a lot of this disorderly conduct and behavior wreaked havoc on the Quadrangle," said Leah Smith, director of communications and external affairs for the Office of the VPUL.

Director of Alcohol Policy Initiatives Stephanie Ives collaborated with McCoullum to form this year's regulations.

"I think one of the things we try to emphasize is that this is a Penn community event and is something that people look forward to," Ives said. "The formal events go off really, really well -- the concern happens after those terrific events where the non-Penn individuals don't really behave by the standards we set as a community."

While the changes concerning this year's Fling were created by VPUL, the Social Planning and Events Committee Fling organizers were made aware of the new rules.

"The students definitely understood the need for some of the changes," Smith said.

Spring Fling Committee Co-Director Rachel Myers agreed.

"One of our main concerns is that everyone has a safe and enjoyable fling."

Myers added that the admission change with this year's Fling is so far running smoothly and that students seem to be aware of the new limitations on guest entry into the Quad.

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