The Forest Blog

By Caitlin Huston
Daily Staff Reporter  On  February 1st, 2010Though Mary Markley Residence Hall is known for wild freshman behavior, some residents took it to another level on Friday night when they hired strippers for a friend’s birthday party.

LSA freshman Nick Bidwell said he was part of a group that met the strippers at the front door of Markley, and then led them to their friend’s room in Little Hall on the second floor of the residence. The group then progressed to the floor study lounge and a quad on the floor before returning to the original room.

University Housing spokesman Peter Logan said a housing security officer and the floor’s resident advisor were approached earlier that night by the resident whose birthday it was, who informed them that he was “expecting strippers for a show.”

The officer and the advisor later entered the floor study lounge, where they found the group of friends sitting in a circle, according to Logan. But “there were no outsiders that they could determine present,” Logan said.

Logan said the officer warned the group that strippers were not permitted in the lounge, as that would be a “violation of Community Living Standards.”

Logan said Housing’s Community Living Standards state that “behavior that is disruptive to orderly community living is prohibited” in the residence halls.

This behavior “includes but is not limited to streaking, nudity and sexual activity in common areas,” Logan said.

Therefore, Logan said if a “strip tease in the community lounge” had occurred, that would have constituted a violation.

Though Logan couldn’t confirm that strippers were in the residence hall, Bidwell said he was part of a group that walked them to a friend’s room.

“We met them at the front door, walked them in and then everyone started going crazy,” he said.

Bidwell said the group then moved to the study lounge because the original room, where 12 to 15 of his friends had gathered, was too small.

Because they were discovered in the lounge, Bidwell said the group moved to another room on the floor. They were discovered again by a resident advisor and then forced to return to the original room.

Bidwell said he and his friends do not know what the consequences of their actions will be.

“We don’t really know if we’re in trouble for it yet; we don’t think so,” he said.

Logan said with the information he has heard thus far, there were no violations of Community Living Standards. Because there is no incident report on file, “there was essentially no incident,” he said.

LSA freshman Chris Miller said he knew of the incident, because he heard “a big ruckus” coming from the floor when he returned to his neighboring hall late that night.

Miller said news of the incident traveled quickly to others in the dorm.

“Word had gotten out, and everyone was talking about it,” he said.

LSA freshman Michael Harrison said he heard students talking about the incident over lunch, and while he thinks it is “hilarious,” he added that he also thinks it’s inappropriate.

“Realistically, should there be strippers in a dorm hall? No, that’s not courteous to other members of the opposite sex,” Harrison said.

Ryan Eskuri, LSA freshman and Markley resident, also said the act was not considerate to others.

“They should be respectful to everyone living here and not just be so selfish and want to be pleasured by a stripper,” Eskuri said.