Saturday's Sex Power God dance, hosted annually by Queer Alliance, will give students a chance to explore their identity in a "sober, sane, safe and consensual" environment, said event co-coordinator Robin Peckham '10.
Party coordinators and University student life officials say they are optimistic about security and safety at this year's event. Both have been issues in the past - at Sex Power God in 2005, 24 students required medical attention, and students without tickets tried to break into the party through second floor and basement windows in Sayles Hall. At the same time, a producer for Fox News' "The O'Reilly Factor" brought a camera into the event, and footage of the party was later aired on the show to highlight what the producer called "pure debauchery."
Last year's Sex Power God was held without major incident, though 14 students required medical attention.
Pre-dance anticipation came to a head on Tuesday evening with a public debate over whether the event should be held on campus. "Editorial critics" Joshua Unseth '08 and Sean Quigley '10, a Herald opinions colummnist, responded to event coordinators Katie Lamb '10 and Peckham, who maintained that the party was about freedom to experiment with identity.
Quigley voiced his opposition to Sex Power God, saying, "Liberty is not licentiousness." Unseth protested the raffling off of SPG tickets at the debate by saying he would raffle off what he described as "a bag of shit." It was, in fact, full of candy.
Peckham and Lamb said Tuesday's debate was effective, though they said they wished more people on campus had heard it.
The approximately 600 tickets available for Sex Power God sold out by Wednesday.
Gem Chema '11 said that about 100 people lined up for tickets Wednesday morning in Leung Gallery; tickets went on sale at 9 a.m. "People were cutting in line, and it was very disorganized," Chema said. "I showed up at six in the morning, and people who showed up at eight got tickets, and I didn't."
Security will be vital for the safety of attendees, Peckham and Lamb said. Last year, coordinators responded to security issues by moving the dance to Alumnae Hall - which has fewer entrances than Sayles - and hiring private security firm Green Horn Management to staff the event.
Roaming student party managers also patrolled the space to ensure consensual behavior. The party managers - who dress and act like partygoers - wear shiny purple armbands for easy identification. Also new to last year's dance were an EMS room to better handle overly intoxicated students and a guest list to avoid counterfeit and scalped tickets.
Those measures will be used again this year. Thirteen GHM guards will be present at the doors but not inside the party, and shifts of 21 student party managers will roam the dance floor. Six Department of Public Safety officers will patrol the streets on the perimeter of the building to handle student agitators and any media presence, which is not permitted at the party, Peckham and Lamb said.
Free condoms and lubricant will be available at the party, but alcohol will not be served.
"It's almost ridiculous that we can throw a party on a Saturday night with no liquor and get 600 people there, which I think speaks to the draw of that safe space," Lamb said, noting that at many parties, party managers do not patrol the dance floor to ensure that all sexual activity is consensual.
This year, the party's advertising has strongly emphasized that Sex Power God should be enjoyed soberly, said Associate Vice President for Campus Life and Dean of Student Life Margaret Klawunn.
In the past, visibly intoxicated students have not been allowed to enter the dance, Klawunn said, adding that this year's party coordinators have been especially effective in focusing the event away from alcohol use.
"I think that Katie and Robin have done a really good job making it clear that this is about a celebration of the queer community and a range of sexual and gender identities, and that's the focus of this event," Klawunn said. "It's not about excessive alcohol use."
Peckham and Lamb said the dance was not primarily queer or straight and that sexual identities are not necessarily carried into the party. "It's experience, not identity," Peckham said. "Everyone's queer at Sex Power God."
Sex Power God, which receives no funding from the University, is the chief fundraiser for Queer Alliance every year, said Coordinator for Student Activities Shelley Adriance. "The QA could not do the educational outreach or social support outreach that it does without this event," she said.
Adriance said if she had attended Brown as a student, she would have gone to the dance to support QA, and in fact, she has volunteered to help run this year's event.
"I'll be fully clothed," she said.
Other than continued health and safety measures, Lamb and Peckham said there will be "lots of surprises" for the attendees at this year's dance. They were guarded about details, but did say the "booty box" - which involves a projection screen to convey messages among attendees - will be returning this year after a three-year hiatus. Each attendee will, upon entering the dance, be given a colorful rubber ball with a number unique to that individual. Admirers who wish to post messages on the screen can use those numbers as identification.
The coordinators also mentioned glowsticks, party favors and a wider range of music will be available. "We're really exploiting a genre called sex techno," Peckham said.
