by Alexandra Greenwald

Late last month, flocks of students crammed into the hallways and division space of Old Kenyon Residence Hall on one of the first weekend nights on campus.

The Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) and Alpha Delta Phi (AD) fraternity wings in the Bullseyes, rooms nicknamed for their circular windows, have been temporarily suspending from hosting parties held there were shut down early in the evening by Safety on Aug. 29.

Associate Dean of Students Tacci Smith declined to comment on this specific incident but said that parties in student residences are often shut down for exceeding the maximum number of people allowed within the party space. While Smith noted that different spaces might have varying capacities, the Kenyon party policy states that around 20 people is the maximum for most student dorm rooms.

“I think the biggest thing for me when it comes to the party policy is for students to understand that it’s all about safety,” Smith said, adding that the maximum capacity was set to allow hosts to keep better track of their guests. “After you get over 20, 25 people, it’s hard. You can’t keep track of 50 people as one person.”

Smith explained that sanctioned students are sometimes asked to refrain from hosting parties in the space in which the offense occurred for a short period of time afterwards in order to create a plan for better crowd control at future gatherings.

“We understand that people will go try to find parties,” Smith said. “It’s how you’re going to manage that.”

Smith encouraged students who want to avoid having their own parties shut down to be sure to register the event, keep it small and ask for help if the party starts to get out of control.

The DKEs and ADs are suspended from hosting parties in their bullseyes for three and four weeks, respectively. Representatives from both organizations declined to comment on the suspension.