Last night the student body kicked off some pre-midterms stress with an awesome flash party at Mocon. It was very short-lived – Psafe quickly busted the party – but definitely the event of the weekend. The party brought to mind other spontaneous celebrations like last year’s Exley flash party. From my (possibly incorrect) perspective, members of the senior class received texts to arrive at Mocon at 11:30, and the word spread to the rest of the student body. It was one of the those rare nights (recalling maybe Fountain’s golden days? or Election 2008?) where it felt like felt like the campus was united somehow – with the illicit nature of a tomb party but without the exclusivity.
Arriving in Mocon last night reminded me of what a treasure we are losing. Since I had only been to Mocon as a prefrosh and it was out of view in the back of Foss Hill, I had a tendency to forget about Mocon except for the yearly, crowded Waste Not sales. I think a lot of the exuberance of the event was from the site itself – which converted nicely into a dancing space. The event was also an example of that ambiguous “Keep Wesleyan Weird” sentiment – an awesome event that would only happen at Wesleyan (and is less controversial and silly than chalking.)
So good job seniors – Mocon has had at least one worthy send-off. If you haven’t already, join the Save Mocon facebook group. Alums, trustees, someone – please save Mocon! Last night showed that the student body does have a connection to the building – call it sentimentality, if you will – and the building has too many memories and architectural beauty to just demolish.
Speculate and share your thoughts in the comments. Dear readers, if any of you have PHOTOS of the event, please email them to staff@wesleying.org.
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thanks for covering this, I’m sorry that i didn’t make it
thanks for covering this, I’m sorry that i didn’t make it
A side point: chalking was neither silly nor controversial once upon a time; it was just a method students, in large part queer students, used for raising awareness, social networking (in a time when the internet was less ubiquitous), and self expression, until the administration decided that queer activism was not an image we wanted to project to campus tours/deep pocketed alumni, and so, over the objections of both the student body and the faculty, it was not only decided that chalk would be washed off (as it still is), but that chalking would be an SJBable offense. As the student body inevitably rolled over, chalking left the campus imagination, and so a vital form of communication and activism was crushed (which was exactly the point of the whole operation).
Likewise, when the administration decided they wanted to knock down MoCon, they didn’t consult the student body, they just turned off the power, waited for water mains to burst and heating systems to break, and then SURPRISE! maintenance is too expensive.
A side point: chalking was neither silly nor controversial once upon a time; it was just a method students, in large part queer students, used for raising awareness, social networking (in a time when the internet was less ubiquitous), and self expression, until the administration decided that queer activism was not an image we wanted to project to campus tours/deep pocketed alumni, and so, over the objections of both the student body and the faculty, it was not only decided that chalk would be washed off (as it still is), but that chalking would be an SJBable offense. As the student body inevitably rolled over, chalking left the campus imagination, and so a vital form of communication and activism was crushed (which was exactly the point of the whole operation).
Likewise, when the administration decided they wanted to knock down MoCon, they didn’t consult the student body, they just turned off the power, waited for water mains to burst and heating systems to break, and then SURPRISE! maintenance is too expensive.
Has anyone calculated out the actual cost to preserve MoCon for occasional use, until we figure out something good to do with it?
Has anyone calculated out the actual cost to preserve MoCon for occasional use, until we figure out something good to do with it?
Even if you do know, PLEASE don’t post any names of responsible parties so they don’t get in trouble with admin
Even if you do know, PLEASE don’t post any names of responsible parties so they don’t get in trouble with admin
who started it? i really want to know
who started it? i really want to know