The Decline of SLU Partying
Since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a slow decline in the number of parties occurring on campus at St. Lawrence University. There are numerous theories among students about why this is, with many claiming the school administration, mainly President Kathryn Morris, has tried to erode SLU’s party culture.
“To be clear, I do not have a policy to ‘curb party culture’ on campus nor have I been involved in any conversations with anyone about, let alone developing a strategy or actions to curb party culture,” said President Morris. “We do, however, have lots of conversations about creating an environment in which all students are able to find their people, to promote wellness, and to foster student engagement.”
However, some students do not believe President Morris’s claim is wholly valid. “There is an effort from the administration and from Kate Morris to limit partying on campus, especially with the introduction of more Friday classes,” claimed Liz Cheney, a senior who has lived through four years of parties. “A lot of the parties now are extremely exclusive because of security cracking down on parties last year.”
Over the last few years, the number of mixers and theme house invite parties has increased, and large-scale open house parties have declined. “One impact from the mandatory isolations during COVID-19 was the decline of big parties, and because of this, I see a lot more smaller gatherings compared to the bigger gatherings the school used to have,” said Ashlee Downing-Duke, senior associate director of campus activities & residential engagement. “I think there is an effort from the school to reduce the unsafe behaviors that unfortunately sometimes go with partying, but personally, I try to make sure students know I’m not there to take fun away but to make it safer.”
Assistant Vice President of Safety and Security and Emergency Management, Patrick Gagnon, has worked at SLU for 28 years and seen the change in student behaviors at parties firsthand. “In the past few years, I have seen a declining interest in students getting blackout drunk, something that wasn’t the case in the past,” said Gagnon.
The decrease in hard liquor usage may be a generational thing.
According to a 2023 The New York Times poll, 38 percent of adults under 35 said they have never drunk alcohol before. “This year, I have noticed numerous evening and weekend activities that do not center around alcohol use, and through the work of student organizations, Student Activities, Residence Life and SLU THRIVES, creating more opportunities is important for all students building meaningful connections and having fun,” said Jon Duraj, vice president for student life.
Even with smaller parties and fewer students drinking, seniors who do throw parties have noticed the lack of attendance at events. “No one goes to the townhouses, and I don’t know if it’s because underclassmen are nervous to show up unannounced, and I feel like that could be because of things being more exclusive, which comes from groups getting in trouble in the past,” said Marien Tierney ’25. “I think COVID-19 impacted a generation of people on how they interact with each other since today people keep to themselves more and don’t want to intrude and aren’t as obnoxious as students in the past could have been.”