It’s no secret that Wellesley’s social life is not what it once was. Speaking with current students or alumni who attended the college before the pandemic paints a picture of a lively campus. These sibs give descriptions of giant weekend dorm parties, society house events that regularly drew in buses of MIT students, and lively pub nights that brought together Wellesley sibs in a safe space. While you may believe that the post-covid haze has caused these reductions in the wild social atmosphere at Wellesley, the truth is that foundational changes have been made to the college that not only reduce the ability of students to engage in social life at Wellesley, but also push them into increasingly dangerous situations. 

One of the first and most significant changes has been in residential life. While the Tower Court remodels look incredible, they’ve also eliminated one of the most classic spaces for Wellesley parties — the Tower Court apartments. One of the only large dorm spaces on the West side, the Tower Court apartments have served generations of students as a comfortable space for casual hangouts and occasionally larger parties. The loss of these dorms is not just a blow to socialization at Wellesley — these beautiful spaces connected students to the long history of Wellesley alumni and offered a unique kind of dorm experience rarely found on campus.

The loss of the Tower Court apartments is not the only thing that has changed in residential life. Many of the most popular and community-building dorm blocks at Wellesley have been disbanded. Infamous senior single blocks such as Beebe 5th and Severance pods have been removed by Residential Life over the past two years, reducing the ability of students to create their own safe spaces on campus and host events. New similarly-sized blocks are now often placed in the middle of long hallways, or have a res life staff member forced into the block, preventing blockmates from having unique, private spaces to themselves. 

A reduction in student-led spaces is not new to Wellesley. Last year, administration shut down Cafe Hoop, and Punch’s Alley was shut down in 2023 — two of the campus’ centerpiece student-run spaces. Punch’s Alley used to provide a safe space for students to drink and celebrate, and it supplied a safe space for students to have fun or cool off, within minutes of their dorm rooms. While it was a bar, it also was a creativity hub for students — hosting bands, open mic nights, comedy shows, poetry slams and much more. These events, as one can say constitute a Wellesley experience, should be held in a space that makes students feel safe and comfortable to express themselves, and there is no other equivalent on Wellesley’s campus. 

Campus police have also been a major point of contention on our campus. Seeing police in event spaces that are meant to be fun and carefree can make many students uncomfortable. Despite requests for their presence to be replaced with EMTs at events, or for them to wear plainclothes, police officers continue to be required at many events, often wearing full uniform. I know from some students’ experiences on campus that parties have been occasionally shut down by the campus police, an action that is completely unwarranted a majority of the time. Instead of sending a CD or res life staff to request appropriate changes be made to the party, which almost all students comply with, the decision can sometimes be to send a threatening presence to shut down one of the few times students feel safe and comfortable. Tower steps has also had recent reports on sidechat of campus police coming to talk to students, something that I have never seen or heard of in my past three years at Wellesley. Steps, one of the few student spaces left on campus, is also being invaded by administrative forces. 

I love social life at Wellesley, but even I have seen increased opposition toward students and student groups trying to provide fun, safe spaces to let loose on campus. As a now senior, I’ve watched the parties at Wellesley steadily decline in frequency, driving students to extreme pregames that can cause medical transports and packing buses into Boston for frat parties.

The issue is not solely something as trivial as “Wellesley students need to party.” Wellesley students will always party, whether the administration likes it or not. That is the thesis  behind substance harm reduction, championed by the Office of Student Wellness. The point is that Wellesley students deserve safe spaces on campus to party. When the college puts up barriers preventing students from having fun on campus, students will continue to go off campus to clubs and frat parties. However, Boston is having an ongoing drink spiking crisis, and MIT frat parties can be frequented by random, non-students, according to what MIT frat members have told me in the past. Wellesley students are migrating off campus to male-controlled spaces to party, where they are at significantly more risk of danger and violence. Getting home safe can be incredibly difficult when students aren’t sober and aren’t in spaces run by fellow sibs.

The administration needs to get rid of their aversion to a Wellesley social scene. Despite various attempts by staff in student life to restore Punch’s Alley and other aspects of Wellesley social life, administrative staff have allegedly shut these efforts down. The college loves to continuously boast about its unique “Wellesley experience” and a strong sense of community to prospective students. In the same breath, they are actively dismantling long-standing traditions and community building spaces that have helped the campus maintain this “Wellesley experience.” Wellesley students deserve safe spaces to be themselves and enjoy college life, and the college needs to take measures to reduce police presence and reinstate vital student spaces on campus.

Contact the editor(s) responsible for this story: Teesta Kasargod