MOBROC Barn Closed to Performances for Remainder of Semester

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Berry.

Early this month, College administrators placed the student group MOBROC on probation for the remainder of the 2018-2019 academic year while shutting their primary performance space until next semester. The student-band organization’s probation comes after student engagement staff members Dean Geoff Norbert and Jeanette Williams discovered alcohol containers inside the Barn, a facility maintained by MOBROC, during a walk-through on October 17, 2018.

Williams declined to comment for this story because of “disciplinary reasons”. Dean Norbert agreed to an interview, although could not provide specifics due to certain sanctions.  

An all-freshmen student band claimed responsibility for leaving some beer cans behind at a rehearsal. That group, which has since changed its name from Mojo Risin’ to Rojo Misin’, was banned from using the Barn for the rest of the Fall 2018 semester. Non-suspended groups are still able to use the space for rehearsals and organization meetings.

MOBROC president Lauren Emerson ‘20 says the club’s constitution prohibits alcohol consumption in the Barn. In an interview, Dean Norbert said the club was made aware of expectations and consequences at the beginning of the semester. Emerson says club leadership explains Barn policies to members at monthly club meetings. She also said the club would not be fighting for the band: “[We’ve] made the decision that we are going to try to put it behind us and instead promote the rebuilding of the barn.”

But past and present MOBROC members are frustrated with a ban they say is overboard. A Rojo Misin’ band member, who asked to remain anonymous, said that their band’s actions should not “result in the entirety of MOBROC being punished… the discipling should have ended with [Rojo Misin’] as a band.” Additionally, the disciplining would warn other bands from breaking the rules and would thus be a step in the right direction.

MOBROC member Roo Learner ‘19 concurred: “while underage drinking in a semi-public space on campus is definitely breaking rules and boundaries, everybody in MOBROC, including folks who don’t drink at all, have now lost their ability to play music shows.”

Learner also said the ban will harm the student band culture on campus: “group accountability is important but cracking down on underage drinking and repressing music culture on campus are entirely different things.”

With humble beginnings as a squash court at Connecticut College, the MOBROC Barn has served as the spot on campus where student bands can meet, rehearse, and put on shows throughout the year. The barn is revered by many concert attendees, MOBROC members, and other musicians. The facility was the biggest reason Kevin Hyland ‘21, a member of multiple bands on campus including his own band Boatweiler, came to Connecticut College. According to Hyland, if you remove the Barn, you “kill the bands at Conn.”

A planned MOBROC show that would feature alumni bands will now take place in Crozier-Williams because of the Barn performance ban. Emerson said the returning alumni “only come to campus to be in that space specifically and it’s important to us that they have that experience and unfortunately we won’t be able to give that to them this semester.”

Dean Norbert said his office has worked with MOBROC to find alternative locations for performances. One example of this is the recent “Battle of the Bands” event held this past weekend in Cro where students bands and DJs were able to compete for a best band and DJ title. But in situations like these, student bands must transport their equipment to other spaces to hold shows, rather than having a designated location to store and use their equipment.

This performance ban will only last until the end of Fall 2018, with MOBROC’s Barn performance privileges being restored next semester. But past and present members worry that MOBROC has and will be targeted by the College. Former MOBROC co-president Josh Hausman ‘18 says historical suspensions and punishments of MOBROC have been a matter of efficacy, rather than fairness. He says “the unbelievable uniqueness of MOBROC and the Barn is grossly underestimated and undervalued.”

Kevin Hyland believes that there is a double standard: the administration catches one band and shuts down all bands for the rest of the semester, but “if it found beers at a tennis ridge or a soccer ridge,” he said, “it is not going to shut down the soccer team or the tennis team for the rest of the semester.” A Rojo Misin’ band member stated in an email that if the administration “wanted to prevent minors from consuming alcohol, then they would take much larger actions on other groups on campus.”

The Barn was also shut down during Spring Semester 2017 for overcapacity and substance-related issues. Roo Learner says it frustrated her that this shutdown occurred while the “drunk bus” was still running, referring to a Thursday-night school bus run that took students to New London bars from Cro and Jane Adams dorm. “I found it strange that the college would rather bus freshmen downtown to the New London bars than have students play music on campus.”

Once the current ban lifts at the end of the semester, MOBROC will remain on probation for the 2018-2019 academic year. If a concert is overcapacity or any student in the Barn is discovered possessing alcohol, all students will have to vacate the space. In that case, the MOBROC board would then have to meet with Dean Norbert and Jeannette Williams, and ultimately go before the Honor Council which would decide their punishment.