Despite the university’s efforts to attract students with the Cherry On Experience, last Saturday’s non-Temple affiliated block party on Park Avenue attracted much larger crowds than the university-sponsored festival.
Temple officials estimate that the Cherry On Experience, intended to replace Spring Fling, drew more than 700 attendees.
The block party’s organizers said the event was held in direct response to Spring Fling’s cancelation. Although police monitored the block party, students openly drank outdoors.
The contrast in attendance of the Cherry On Experience and the Park Avenue block party shouldn’t come as a surprise – the university’s attempt to replace Spring Fling so soon was a lofty goal.
The university announced on Aug. 27 of last year that Spring Fling would be canceled, citing drinking and poor class attendance as reasons for the decision.
The decision came after 19-year-old West Chester University student Ali Fausnaught fell to her death from an off-campus row home. Despite the cancelation’s proximity to the tragedy, the university has denied that Fausnaught’s death was a reason for the cancellation.
At the block party, police asked students to get off of the roof of a Park Avenue home. The event’s DJ stopped the music, asking the students to consider partygoers’ safety.
Despite the efforts to keep students secure, there was a fatal fall early Sunday morning just two blocks off campus at 10th and Norris streets. A 21-year-old man visiting friends fell to his death from a fifth floor window. It’s unclear if the student’s death can be traced to any sort of illicit behavior.
While it’s likely that any Temple party will invite rival “copycat” parties away from the confines of Main Campus, it’s better for the university that the parties are no longer Temple-affiliated.
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