Mather Lather Foam Party Ends in Bust

The bubble burst prematurely last Saturday night at “Mather Lather”—proclaimed by organizers and attendees the largest House party in Harvard’s recent history.

After just over two hours of near-naked bumping-and-grinding, Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) turned off the music, cleared the dance floor, and ushered scantily-clad co-eds off into the nippy night.

Police officials said that the masters asked them to pull the plug on the foam-covered revelry because of concerns about overcrowding.

House Master Sandra Naddaff, who was not present at the party, said that HUPD was called by resident tutor Nava Ashraf, but was unsure of what Ashraf told the police.

Ashraf could not be reached for comment yesterday.

“It was overcrowded and things were getting a little out of hand,” said HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano. He said that after receiving a call around 11:40 p.m., a dozen HUPD officers shut the event down around 12:15 a.m. Officers from the Cambridge Police Department monitored the breakup, but didn’t go inside, Catalano added.

The crowd numbered between 1,000 and 1,300, according to estimates by House Committee co-president Zachary A. Corker ’04 and House Committee (HoCo) secretary Darren S. Morris ’05, who also said that it took about a half hour to clear out the party.

“People were having such a good time that even after the police arrived, they kept dancing and grinding and playing in the foam,” Morris said.

Both the masters and the HoCo members worried that overcrowding might be a problem at the party.

“[HoCo] was worried that the advertising campaign had been too successful,” said Brian W. Flanagan ’04. “They were joking about being expelled, but they gleefully accepted their own success.”

The Mather HoCo began to poster two weeks before and sent all undergraduates an e-mail containing the link to a promotional website the Sunday before the event.

“It was a victim of its own success,” said Mather resident Hunter A. Maats ’04.

After only printing 600 $5 tickets—which sold out by noon Saturday—HoCo continued to sell between 100 to 200 more tickets throughout the rest of the day as well as $10 tickets at the party entrance, according to Morris.

“We weren’t sure how successful it would be, so we’d only told the box office to print out 600 tickets,” Morris said. “But once they sold out, people just started coming to Mather looking to buy tickets.”

Morris said that HoCo had “no specific set limit” for the number of students they would accept into the party. “We were just gauging that once it got full we would stop selling tickets.”

And while Morris said that he could not remember what time the HoCo stopped selling tickets, he said that “We didn’t turn anyone away until the police came.”

Naddaff said that neither she nor her husband had set limits on the number of students allowed into House parties in the past.

“We were aware that crowd control might be a concern for this particular party and opened up the dining hall for use,” said Naddaff, who also commented on the strength of the party’s advertising campaign. “But ordinarily you don’t expect that you need to worry about capacities for rooms.”

According to Corker, the overcrowding primarily occurred in the “foam” room—the TV lounge—which only has a capacity of 200.

“Our problem wasn’t too many people, it was that there were too many people in the wrong places,” Corker said.

To accommodate the throngs of party-goers, HoCo members said that they had originally planned to spread the crowds into the many different rooms, as well as the dining hall.

“That didn’t work out because the party got too crowded too quickly,” Corker said. “The foam was a lot more popular than we’d thought it would be . . . and when the police arrived, it just looked like organized chaos.”

The overcrowding may have also resulted from the influx of prospective students on campus this weekend because of Pre-Frosh Weekend.

Morris said that while the HoCo did not choose the weekend because of the pre-frosh, they were happy to show the high schoolers a good time.

“We wanted to show the pre-frosh that there is a good social life at Harvard, and there wasn’t much else going on that night.”

Morris said that the whole House was behind the organizing effort—with the masters helping to get a grant from the Undergraduate Council and nearly two dozen tutors taking tickets and controlling crowds.

“Our masters were always very supportive throughout all the planning and party,” Corker.

Preparations, which according to Corker cost HoCo $4,000, continued until hours before the event, including a last minute trip to Home Depot to buy 1,000 square yards of non-slip floor covering.

HoCo members said they devoted 12 hours to setting up for the party, and four hours cleaning up after the crowd dispersed. They also said that they hired a cleaning service to finish up the job yesterday morning.

“Mather is spotless—it was designed to be a club,” Corker said.

Gisele M. Morey ’04 said that she came up with the idea for the foam party, after she heard of similar events at night clubs. Morey brought up the idea at a HoCo meeting, and it took off from there.

“I thought it would be something different that people would be drawn to,” she said.

Morey added that while the party was crowded, she never felt unsafe. “Harvard throws crowded parties, but this wasn’t any more crowded than a room party—it was just under more soapy, naked circumstances.”

HoCo members said they were pleased with the popular, albeit abbreviated, event—and HoCo treasurer Paul H. Hersch ’04 said last night that they had at least broken even on the event.

“No one has ever seen that many people at a Harvard party before,” Morris said. “It shows that there are a lot of Harvard students who really do like to party, and we hope that we were able to provide that opportunity for them.”

But pre-frosh who came to get lathered on Saturday said their high expectations were dashed by the midnight bust.

“I was really looking forward to Mather yesterday, but now after it’s over, I’m feeling very partial to Yale,” said Patrick McKee, who has been accepted into the Class of 2007.

“It was not scandalous enough for me,” said pre-frosh Matthew A. Butlein, who said he came after viewing the website earlier that day while browsing the Internet, looking for things to do at Harvard over the weekend.

Although initially disappointed by the party, he said it did not change his decision to come to Harvard.

“Where else am I going to go?” he asked.

Current students had mixed reactions to the party.

“Unfortunately the foam only got to two to three feet, and we were hoping for five to six,” Ari D. Brettman ’04 said. But he said that overall, he was pleased with the party. “It set the gold standard for collegiate entertainment.”

Others said they were not so enamored with the evening, and said they thought it might have lasting negative effects.

“The long term ramifications are going to be shocking. It has taught anyHoCo that doing something too grand will be discouraged. The trick now will be to find a mediocre idea,” Maats said.

Other students said they felt that they did not get their money’s worth—and wanted a refund.

“I was annoyed that the police came and broke it up because I was having fun,” Courtney K. Wallace ’06 said. “The word on the street is that there were too many people, and it got out of hand, but then why did HoCo let so many people in? I don’t blame HUPD, I blame HoCo, who are awesome for bringing foam to Harvard, but I was cheated out of two solid hours of fun and kind of want my money back.”

While Morris said that he did not know anything about a refund, Corker said yesterday that “We are working to address people’s concerns.”

—Staff writer Lauren A.E. Schuker can be reached at schuker@fas.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Jessica E. Vascellaro can be reached at vascell@fas.harvard.edu.