With the passing of another Halloween passes another Bauhaus, second only to WILD in its attendance and debauchery. Sadly, the past few years have seen Bauhaus undergo significant changes, most notably the addition of a ticket requirement in order to enter. When asked about the change, Green Givens President Jared Heming and Architecture Student Council President Anisa Baldwin Metzger said that ticketing system was developed in response to administrative concern regarding the size of the party.
These continued restrictions raise some concerns about how Bauhaus is handled. First of all, the school’s desire to limit attendance at Bauhaus, though understandable, seems to be unnecessary. If Team 31 can host WILD twice a year on University property, why can’t the architecture school open Bauhaus up to all comers? If security is an issue, bring in more security staff. If the location is an issue, alternate venues for the party need to be discussed. Isn’t it worth it to continue the tradition of goofy Halloween-weekend debauchery that Bauhaus represents?
Further, the ticket distribution system for Bauhaus needs serious reworking. With 2,000 tickets to give out, why were tickets only distributed in Mallinckrodt-and why were tickets only given away between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.? Many students have classes during these hours, and Mallinckrodt, though central to the Hilltop Campus, is not necessarily somewhere the majority of Wash. U. students will stop during the day. Many students have complained that they wanted to attend Bauhaus, but were left without tickets when they couldn’t make it to Mallinckrodt during the day.
In past years, tickets were given away at Wohl Center during dinner hours. Why not revive this practice and guarantee that students living in on-campus housing can make it out to the party? Heming and Metger remarked that tickets had been given away in Wohl in past years, yet surprisingly the group failed to make them available there this year.
Also, why not give away tickets at the Village during dinner hours as well? Neglecting to do so leaves out a significant portion of upperclassmen, many of whom live in fraternity houses, the Millbrook apartments, and the Village. Many off-campus students also frequent the Village in the evening-so making tickets available there would accommodate them as well.
We appreciate the administration’s concern for our well-being. That said, it would be nice if everyone who wants to attend this party, which is supposedly open to all students, were actually able to do so. Hopefully, those in charge of Bauhaus will be able to work with the administration to smooth things out so that next year’s pimps, hobos, angels and devils will be able to party at Bauhaus without facing these problems.