“Dear Conn. I hate you.” This was the status of someone I [used to] respect after the announcement was made about Fishbowl this Wednesday afternoon. Before my eyes, my newsfeed filled up with angry commentary and conspiracy theories from students who I [used to] see as mature campus leaders. Hundreds of angry and immature comments later, I had only seen one suggestion of a petition. Camels – I’m not impressed.
Before I go any further, I would like to point out that I am not writing this because I worship the administrators, or am secretly an undercover College Relations staff member. I am also not one of the students who were notified of this decision before the rest of the campus community.
I have chosen to remain anonymous so that my identity doesn’t influence the way this letter is read. However, I would like to make it known that as far as our campus community is concerned, I tend to be on the more radical end of the spectrum – a claim you will probably question by the time you are finished reading. But as you read on, please try to keep two things in mind:
First, the goal of this piece is not to change anyone’s mind about the issue, but rather to ask you to take a step back and look at this from another angle, since I have noticed that not many students have taken the initiative to do that on their own.
Second, please consider that while I encourage my peers to question anything and everything that happens on this campus, that includes resistance movements: being subversive just because your friends are is, in many cases, worse than doing nothing at all.
All that being said, I believe that for those students who are angry about the cancellation of Fishbowl, the strongest argument you have in your favor is that this decision was made with relatively little student input. Although a select group of students were informed of the decision, little was done to discuss the issue with SGA or any other student leaders in a dialectic format before the email was sent out.
I cannot and will not defend the administration’s choice to bypass student input on this decision. Simultaneously, however, I would like to remind everyone that even in the shared governance model, the administration always has the final say, especially when it comes to health and safety issues. SGA resolutions, when it comes down to it, are just suggestions that the students make to the administration for policy changes that they would like to see, and they do not go on the books without an OK from someone with more power.
Although it would have been nice to be offered the chance to voice our opinions, I do not find it hard to understand why the administration would want to avoid the negative, unproductive, and whiney conversations that I have been witness to since the announcement. This is especially true given that with all the arguments against continuing to host Fishbowl, no matter what the student recommendation ultimately was, the administration still probably would have been forced to ignore our vote.
Every year, on average, two seniors are transported on the night of Fishbowl. These statistics alone should make students do a double take: it is rare enough for a senior to get transported, but the fact that it happens twice in one night, and that this repeats itself without fail every year, is not something easily shaken.
For a school working hard to reduce the binge-drinking culture on campus, Fishbowl makes no sense. In fact, I would argue that Fishbowl was the exact opposite: school-sponsored binge drinking. Students were literally locked in Cro until they finished all the alcohol and their inhibitions were low enough (read: blackout) to run across campus naked. Yet much of the backlash I have seen is from student leaders who hold positions in which they have agreed to look out for the health and safety of themselves and their peers: Housefellows, campus EMTs, etc.. Somewhere, there is a disconnect.
Along with this alcohol abuse comes a host of other problems. Students were not given medical attention only because of overconsumption of alcohol; the intoxication levels that many students aim for on the night of Fishbowl often leads to other health and safety concerns. In past years, I have heard stories of people tripping and breaking bones, and even more disturbing, getting trampled by their drunk classmates as they rush across campus. In addition, although I commend the Community of Care for their eye-catching “Just because I’m naked doesn’t mean I want you to touch me” campaign last year, Fishbowl is the perfect storm, so to speak, for sexual misconduct or assault.
In my conversations with students, they counter the above points by saying, “but students like that [getting drunk and out of control] so the school should sponsor it.” While I would love for this to be the case, the school cannot offer anything that the student body would like to see happen, simply because of demand. While we love Conn because it’s position as a private institution affords us many freedoms that we would not get anywhere else, they cannot simply allow us to run wild. In that same vein, to those of you who want to “get out of here” because you feel like Conn is taking away all your fun, I ask you this: where are you going where you will be afforded more freedoms than here? Is there somewhere that I don’t know about that is throwing all-expenses-paid nude parties where you’re headed off to?
Finally, if everyone really does want to stick to their naïve idea that the concept of “nakedess” is the one reason that this event was cancelled (“Fishbowl has been eliminated. Really ConnColl? Nakedness is clearly the biggest problem we have on this campus.”), then please consider this. For some of us, being exposed is extremely painful, embarrassing, and humiliating. While you might argue that anyone is allowed to keep their clothes on, the culture and circumstances of Fishbowl – that is, the weight of “tradition” that it holds coupled with excessive intoxication – breeds heavy peer pressure to conform, or get naked.
If nothing else, the cancellation of Fishbowl has assured me that this Spring, I won’t feel pressured to spend extra time counting calories and dragging my butt to the gym with the rest of the girls of the Class of 2013 in order to feel like I will be “prepared” for Fishbowl. And even though you might deny it now, ask last year’s graduating class – because I promise you, they did it too. In fact, some administrators have alluded to the fact that the number of students seeking counseling through the Health Center tends to soar in the week or so after Fishbowl due to the mental and emotional stress it places on students. Now, thanks to Dean Denard and the rest of the group that made this decision, the score is now Body Image: 1 Fishbowl: 0.
So get drunk and naked if you’d like, and run down and ring the gong on your own accord. But in this age of liability, please don’t expect the College to sponsor Fishbowl when they are aware of all of the above problems.
And most of all, please don’t take this out on the poor individuals who were forced to make this decision. Dean Denard and the other senior administrators sought out positions here because they love this school and want to protect and foster our traditions to the best of their abilities. They do not want to change the culture of Conn, ruin our traditions, “sterilize anything weird we do as a community,” or any of the other absurd claims that have been laid against them. They were simply forced into enacting a decision that has been a long time coming. It was only a matter of time before one of you got transported, trampled, or worse, and your parents sued the school. You probably wouldn’t think that Fishbowl was so great then, would you?
We’re seniors. It’s time to grow up and see the realities of this decision, rather than ranting about it on Facebook. Welcome to the real world, Class of 2013!
While I understand what you’re saying- don’t you think that the intolerance of drinking in general has lead to a binge-drinking culture at Conn? We are over 21, we are in college, kids will drink. It’s a matter of how you treat the problem, rather than just canceling things that have become too centered on drinking. Teaching abstinence in schools doesn’t keep girls from getting pregnant. So why not provide birth control?
While I’m not equating Fishbowl with teen pregnancy, the reasoning is similar. As over 21 year old adults, the college allows very little outlet for things we can legally do elsewhere (drink), therefore certain events have gotten out of hand because they are the only outlets we have- and the aspect of being able to drink becomes something almost forbidden. The less we’re “allowed” to drink, the more Conn kids are going to drink when they get the chance- this is something that’s been proven time and time again.
You’re telling us to grow up- but seriously, don’t go to fishbowl if you feel this way. No one would remember you weren’t there- believe me.
“No one would remember you weren’t there” — I love you!!!!!!!!!!!
Hamilton-has a streaking team
Vasser
Oberlin
Ect. bastions of the true liberal arts and fair administrations. I wish I had got in…
The student body here used to be something that was respectable a balance of fun and academic integrity. Over the past three years this administration has not made a single step towards progress in the sense of integral social events for its students. I feel it is their intention through conservative measures to cripple the once active and awesome student body. Yuppie more Cro dances, fuck me! I beg the administration just please give me my 60,000k back I’ll go home for my education cause this place has seen its last days for student equality (the reason I came here). Watch admission applications drop due to the lack of opportunity for a social college experience. The sad reality is that when it comes to social life theres nothing left here its all been take away. House parties, kegs, loud music, fun of any sort to let loose all are now considered contraband. As a student here I would associate the regime of this administration as a dictatorship confusing this liberal arts education with the reign of Kim Jong Higdon.
IF YOU ARE A PROSPECTIVE STUDENT OF CONN AND READING THIS FOR YOU OWN SAKE DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A COLLEGE EXPERIENCE ITS BECOME A BOARDING SCHOOL. THANKS DEAN DENARD!
PREACH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
First of all, I think its a little condescending to reduce the value of people’s commentary through statements like “It’s time to grow up and see the realities of this decision, rather than ranting about it on Facebook. Welcome to the real world, Class of 2013!”. Not everyone is expressing their discontent through Facebook statuses, and even if they are, I see this type of discourse to be the jumping off point through which discussion (such as your editorial) can happen. We should all be careful not to devalue individual choice in how we voice our opinion.
Secondly, I don’t really think the dominant argument against fishbowl cancellation is anger over not being able to black out- “students like that [getting drunk and out of control] so the school should sponsor it”. I respect if that is the response you’ve heard, but I think, again, this is not the general tone of student opinion nor is it really what is at the heart of whats important to Conn seniors. Yes, many of us like to drink and we are all involved in social life here in different ways, but I think those “let us rage” responses are the more immediate reaction to this cancellation, and not the priority of most of the student body.
I agree wholeheartedly with the issues with Fishbowl and other such events that you and the administration have pointed out. I don’t deny the problems with binge drinking, transports, body image, blacked-out groping, etc you point to, but I don’t think these are exclusive to events like Fishbowl and certainly not confined to the Senior class. This doesn’t make these issues any less troubling, but I guess what I’ve taken from all of this is that I don’t think canceling student events like Fishbowl is the answer to these problems, and. most of all, I have a serious problem with the way this was handled. I hear your point about the administration having the final say within the shared governance model, but the original e-mail insinuated that students had been involved in discussion to the effect that they actually had a say, and, from what I’ve heard, that is really not the case. I think the symbolic message of consulting with student government as a whole still resonates with the campus community, whether or not it meant the administration had to hear “negative, unproductive, and whiny conversations” and resulted in them being “forced to ignore our vote”. Failing to acknowledge the investment students have in these types of issues, as well as the wisdom they could have brought to the conversation, is a huge disservice to our sense of commonality and mutual respect.
I’m really confused by your arguments on body-image to some extent. As a member of the last graduating class, I never felt any pressure to lose weight for Fishbowl, or to even attend it. No one pressured me to go. I don’t know anyone from my class who was pressured into going or pressured into taking off their clothes and having a negative experience as a result.
In fact, the whole point of the event is to overcome those body-issues that you bring up, and I knew a couple of people who were decidedly-overweight who went to Fishbowl specifically because of that. And had an awesome time.
Sure, that’s anecdotal evidence, but there’s lots of it to go around in the form of other graduates, and it’s more evidence than you seem to be working on.
As another member of the class of 2012, I felt very pressured to look good for fishbowl.
I can name three people off the top of my head who had regretful sexual experiences during fishbowl, four more who physically left campus because they felt there was no other way to avoid the event, and countless others who dieted and spent weeks, if not months in the gym trying to “perfect” themselves for the run. It is not a harmless event, and people can’t simply “opt out.”
I can also name 3 people who have had regretful sexual experiences on ANY GIVEN CRO DANCE. You’re argument does not hold up. This is a problem with college/ rape culture not an inherent problem with fishbowl.
I find it ludicrous that you say there is no way to “opt out” and that 4 of your friends felt there was no way to avoid Fishbowl other than by leaving campus when a full 3/4 of the school (namely, all the non-senior classes) manage to avoid it just fine.
I’m also sure that any pressure to look good for Fishbowl was pressure from yourself, not the people running the event, as I managed to make it through Fishbowl 2011 without giving any fucks about my appearance.
Note that I never said “felt pressured”: I said “was pressured”. Therein lies the difference.
In all of your examples you don’t bring up one instance of students pressuring each other to go, or of students who ridiculed others for not being ‘prepared’ enough, etcetera. So while you insinuate that this is a harmful event, you don’t bring up any instances where the event itself directly exacerbates body-image issues; you bring up instances where students simply have body-image issues.
So while I am truly sorry you had a negative experience around the event, from your own words it does not sound like a problem stemming from the event itself, which, again I will mention, has been used by people I know to help overcome their own body-image issues.
Admin,
You’re over thinking this. Way too much.
In response to previous commenters: you’re still “allowed” to drink, get naked, throw up on yourself, require hospitalization, whatever. The college isn’t banning alcohol on campus. They’re just not providing it in excess and locking you in Cro until you finish it. That’s not their place– thank god it’s not– and the fact that seniors feel entitled to that is alarming.
On the issue of traditions and student bonding, I can attest to the fact that Fishbowl was one of the more fun and community-building experiences I had during my time at Conn. That said, if the senior class requires all-you-can-drink alcohol and nudity to get that sense of togetherness, it’s not a community to which I wish to belong.
I believe the real issue here is that the model of summer camp + alcohol the college has been running for the past several years is not sustainable any more. This isn’t a problem specific to Conn. The college should consider improving transportation to bars downtown, increasing the number and function of student -run social life and clubs, and give way to more private off-campus housing. The college is growing up. The students need to too.
quote: ” In that same vein, to those of you who want to “get out of here” because you feel like Conn is taking away all your fun, I ask you this: where are you going where you will be afforded more freedoms than here? Is there somewhere that I don’t know about that is throwing all-expenses-paid nude parties where you’re headed off to?”
No, there aren’t many if any schools left where something like Fishbowl can happen. That is exactly why I came to Conn, because it is unlike any other school I have encountered, and allows certain liberties such as Fishbowl because we have an Honor Code and are supposed to be treated like mature adults. Transferring from a small liberal arts college where students are allowed much less leeway and respect, I have seen first hand that if you want students to act with maturity, an administration cannot expect that without giving the student body a certain level of respect.
That being said, instead of simply making snide and snippy comments about how immature the student body’s reaction was, why not also criticize the administration for the heavy handed and autocratic way in which this decision was reached, without any conversation taking place before the announcement was dropped onto the class of 2013, in a rather impersonal way (Dean Denard sent this email out and put her name to it at a time when she was away from campus and not available for comment. It is not a mature or professional way of handling things and makes her look like she is afraid of or running away from the issue).
Iggy – I believe the author does criticize the administration (“I cannot and will not defend the administration’s choice to bypass student input on this decision.”) – however, as the article seems to point out, everyone else is very busy criticizing the authority so it seems as though they might have been trying to see the other side of it.
“Is there somewhere that I don’t know about that is throwing all-expenses-paid nude parties where you’re headed off to?”
Actually yes, here is a great list of schools with what our administration would deem “poor values and morals”, many of whom are ranked higher than Conn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaking_at_educational_institutions
You say: “Dean Denard and the other senior administrators sought out positions here because they love this school and want to protect and foster our traditions to the best of their abilities.” WHO IS DEAN DENARD?! Highly doubt she loves and school that shes only been working at for three months. I also highly doubt that she will EVER love this school after tonight’s SGA meeting.
Lastly, you statement that “For some of us, being exposed is extremely painful, embarrassing, and humiliating. While you might argue that anyone is allowed to keep their clothes on, the culture and circumstances of Fishbowl – that is, the weight of “tradition” that it holds coupled with excessive intoxication – breeds heavy peer pressure to conform, or get naked.” leaves me wondering how you can comment on the environment and pressures at an event that you never have, nor never will, attend.
I’m anonymous #3. Anonymous #1 is the author of the article. Anonymous #2 is the author of the objections in the above post.
As anonymous #3, I want to say that I second anonyonus #2 wholeheartedly, AND would like to suggest that anonymous #1 take a logic class, or at least learn to utilize common sense.
“In fact, some administrators have alluded to the fact that the number of students seeking counseling through the Health Center tends to soar in the week or so after Fishbowl due to the mental and emotional stress it places on students.”
Don’t you think that’s a good thing? Somebody who has body issues to the extent that they are completely traumatized by getting naked in public should seek counseling, that’s reflective of a serious problem. These people are going to have body image problems whether or not they seek counseling, or go to fishbowl, seeking counseling just means that they are taking steps to deal with it. I don’t think we should be stigmatizing mental health in that way, it just encourages people to never deal with they’re problems. When I was younger I used to be ashamed of my body and probably would have been worried about going to an event like Fishbowl, but since then I’ve dealt with those issues and now I’m ok with how I look and who I am. If some girls feel like they have to work out constantly to get in shape for fishbowl, thats symptomatic of a larger problem with our culture that can’t be solved by canceling a nude run. I think its more like “Fishbowl 0; Body Image 0” because those two things aren’t really related, and again if you’ve got problems that you need counseling for, whether it be body image or something else get counseling. You don’t have anything to be ashamed of.
So social pressures that force someone’s mental health over the edge is a good thing?
Exactly…everyone has been touting Fishbowl as a “bonding event” but excluding students because of their body image (“you can just not show up if you dont want to get naked), or having them try to fit in and ultimately being emotionally scarred by it, is not what I would consider positive bonding.
Non-existent social pressure that brings people to a greater awareness of mental health problems so that they seek counseling is a good thing.
keep it simple folks.
Just cause you go to counseling after you run naked doesn’t mean you’re scarred for life. It just means you wanna talk to someone. It’s kindof like reconciling an awkward first time by talking with your friends about it the day after.
Also, your body image issues stem from…I don’t know…magazines? Models?. fishbowl embraces nudity- it doesn’t create an environment of shame- if anything a naked run is positive about body images- everyone’s naked and too weirded out about their own body to shame other people.
Class of ’10 graduate saying a few heated off the cuff comments: That body image line is a load of garbage. If you have self confidence issues and are now relieved that you don’t have to try to be healthy because then no one will see you naked, the threat of one event where you could get naked is the least of your worries.
When I arrived at Fishbowl, I was fully clothed, and so were most attendees. Over the course of the night every level of nudity was represented from shoeless to underwear to fully clothed. I don’t remember any judgment.
However, this was the one event that I saw some of my more conservative peers cut loose. The vibe and atmosphere of the event allowed everyone (that I saw) to have fun. Way more so than 100 days or 50 days.
I personally didn’t have a problem with sexual assault at fishbowl, but i can easily see how they happen. Valid point.
I don’t think anyone here, absent this change, would argue that fishbowl is a completely positive experience and a tradition this community should necessarily preserve. I think that these reactions are primarily motivated by the way the SGA, not the administration, has handled the change.
It appears that the Administration did consult with the SGA and the senior class council before making the change. That is what we would want them to do. Their responsibility under shared governance is to consult the SGA. The SGA, however, failed to consult the student body as a whole. It is because of the student government’s failure to consult or even inform the student body prior to the decision, that the student body feels blindsided and upset.
While your piece was certainly….opinion-provoking, I can’t really comment on any of the points you made. Why? Because your entire argument is based on anecdotal or otherwise unprovable facts. If you could kindly point me in the direction of published statistics and/or reports I’d be much obliged. Until then, this has less credibility than a Wikipedia article.
Oh, one more thing: “being subversive just because your friends are is, in many cases, worse than doing nothing at all”. Please get off your high horse do some research into how Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless other resistance movement leaders were introduced to their respective causes. I’m embarrassed for you at this point.
Well said.
I am embarrassed at you for comparing this to any of those resistance movements.
(please get off your high horse and do some research on 1. herd mentality and 2. what encompasses the phrase “jumping on the bandwagon”)
These comments are just embarrassing. Of course it’s too big a liability for your college to provide you with a fuckton of alcohol. Whining about how much fun it is to be blackout drunk and naked is not going to make the admin. change their minds, so cut your losses and deal with it.
Read the other responses. It’s not the liability of fishbowl that we’re upset about- we get that. it’s how the event was handled. dumbass.
This was submitted on conn coll confessional minuets ago and i could not agree more:
I’m quite disappointed that I realized too late to transfer that it was in fact the school that was toxic for me and not my habits or personality. the school got rid of keg parties right before I arrived, which forced drinking to not only be more concentrated, but also happen in private, which is more dangerous. the administration’s handling of fishbowl is simply the latest in the systematic underpinning of collegiate fun social life. “we listened to the first-ever packed house of SGA on thursday night, packed with people complaining rationally, and still decided to scrap fishbowl because we can” is just wrong. I hated this school before they cancelled fishbowl and now I hate it more. Even if it’s just Dean whatever her name is, can’t the other Deans who know how important this tradition is (and how important our opinions are) override her or at least talk to her about it? I think she’s just trying to stand her ground out of insecurity, because she wants to pretend she has this great amount of power over us from the start. But you’ll catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Remember that, Deans.
Streaking every night May 7-13. Let’s get it.