'Chastity' Hours Extended

Winthrop House’s fall “Chastity” party will be the first official House party to run until 2 a.m. this Saturday night, but partygoers will no longer be able to revel in the gathering’s former tradition of mock prostitution.

Under new rules approved by House Masters earlier this month, “Chastity” will be able to continue one hour past the previous 1 a.m. closing time. But the party, formerly named “Debauchery,” has been toned down in response to the concerns of the Winthrop House Masters and tutors, who were disturbed by last year’s out-of-control partygoers and the party’s risque reputation, said Alana E. Murphy ’02, co-president of the Winthrop House Committee.

Unlike last year, the party will only be open to Winthrop residents and their guests. Alcohol will not be served, and the play money that sparked “debaucherous” behavior among partygoers will no longer be distributed.

“Essentially the way it worked was that everyone was given a set amount of debauchery dollars when they entered the party,” Winthrop House Committee member Jordan W. Webb ’03 said. “The idea was to collect as much money as they could—obviously there was a sexual element there—and there was a small trophy for the winner.”

Murphy said the tutors who supervised the party were concerned by the presence of alcohol and the lack of crowd control over students, including those who were “breaking down windows and jumping over gates” trying to get into the party. She added that the House Masters were also concerned that the party’s reputation would be offputting to some students.

This year, “there will be no play money involved and no devices such as that,” said House Master Paul D. Hanson.

Murphy said the competition for the play money prompted behavior ranging from the more innocuous practice of paying people to dance with them to the “extremes” of “table dancing or stripping,” and that the party had the reputation for “mad hookups.”

Unlike the Adams’ Masquerade, which was forced to end at 1 a.m. last Saturday, “Chastity” can run an extra hour, because tickets won’t be sold individually or at the door—meaning that the party is not subject to the Cambridge Licensing Commission’s restrictions on “entertainment.” Only dues-paying Winthrop residents and their guests will be able to go.

Brian R. Smith ’02, a member of the Undergraduate Council who has led the effort for extended party hours, said that at the commission’s Nov. 27 meeting, he will present a proposal to issue a 2 a.m. entertainment license for all House parties. Currently, the commission only grants exceptions to the 1 a.m. closing time on a case-by-case basis.

The House Masters voted earlier this month to approve a 2 a.m. closing time for Friday and Saturday night House parties that do not serve alcohol and are held in “public spaces.”

Winthrop House Committee Co-President and two-time “Debauchery” champion Kyle P. Egan ’02 said he hoped that “Chastity” would preserve the spirit of “Debauchery,” even without the play money.

“Hopefully, we’ll set an atmosphere with our decorations and the music we play that will mimic some of the things that happened last year, when [people] would go up to do a sexual favor for someone to get a prize,” Egan said.

Despite his initial opposition to the some of the alterations to the party, Egan said changes were in order.

“We had some big problems last year in terms of logistics—people were diving through windows, and one of our tutors was grabbed ... in a very physical and unhealthy way,” Egan said. “We had people vomiting and throwing up in our bathrooms and hallways. It was a mess.”