By Kimberly Ilkowski
Features Editor
If you thought this year’s group of freshmen were wild partiers, you must have not heard about the freshmen class on campus in 1974. In the September 25, 1974 edition of The Signal, staff writer J. Stryker Meyer wrote a front-page story on a massive rager that was shut down in Travers Hall after hundreds of students and outsiders flooded the building, often illegally. Thursday nights were notorious as the wild party night on campus, and word spread like wildfire, resulting in the outrageous final party.
“There’ll be no more beer parties on the third floor of Travers this year,” said the Resident Director of the Travers-Wolfe dormitory complex, Fred Worsfold.
This action was taken after some students on the third floor held an illegal beer party, charging an admission fee of $.75 for men and $.25 for women, in a party where 200-250 people were “floating through it,” according to Signal sources.
The illegal party, held last Thursday night, was also a contributing factor to an invasion of the Travers-Wolfe complex by some 500-700 outsiders, according to Signal sources. A student working at the desk estimated that approximately 300 outsiders were registered at the desk, in accordance with dorm regulations.
Outsiders tried to break down the iron guard gates which blocked the staircases in the basement of Travers. When the outsiders found they couldn’t break it they tore apart the gate support structure in the ceiling. They then crawled over the structure to get into the building, according to Signal sources. “A lot of damage is done by people who don’t even live here (Travers-Wolfe),” said Worsfold.
Other outsiders climbed up to the second floor roof of Travers and climbed through the corridor window to gain access into the building. Another student had six males open her first floor window and tell her they were only going to the party and not to be upset.
The outsiders will “do anything to get into the dorms on Thursday nights,” said the Signal source. “That night has become a party night and apparently word is getting out about the parties in the dorms.”
A student told The Signal, “Thursday night is the biggest rip-off night of the week. People just walk around in the halls looking for open rooms and are taking whatever they can. Others are just looking for some fun. The problem is we can’t tell the difference.”
This invasion of outsiders on Thursday nights, causes a lot of Security problems. Last Thursday, Security had to have four extra men in the towers while four extra student workers were added to the normal shift to help control the traffic.
“TSC students really hassle Security by letting non-residents into the dorm. What happens is, residents aren’t concerned enough about their own safety. The non-residents hurt the entire operation of the dorm, especially the Security and housekeeping of the dormitories,” said Worsfold.
