The Kenyon Collegian

The Office of Residential Life required the residents of Delta Kappa Epsilon's Bullseye to move out Wednesday morning in response to a series of violations of College policy. The room, a popular party spot in the west wing of Old Kenyon, will be closed for the rest of the semester.

"The students who live [in the Bullseye] have been required to move out," said Dean of Residential Life George Barbuto. "No one else needs to be moved in, so the room will remain empty."

Senior John Stewart, one of the residents of the Bullseye, said they had to move out because of a "string of minor infractions," including unauthorized gatherings, people sitting in the open window, possession of a water balloon launcher, broken bottles found at the base of Old Kenyon and "an incident involving a backpack hanging out of the window."

Stewart denied that the DKEs were responsible for all of the infractions and emphasized that many of them were "typical college pranks."

The Bullseye was cleaned out and locked on Wednesday, and Stewart and sophomore Colin MacLauchlan, who lived in the room, have moved to other rooms on campus.

Barbuto declined to give any specific information about the case out of respect for the residents' privacy.

Although they admitted that they had made some mistakes, several DKEs said that closing the room was too harsh of a punishment for "harmless jokes."

"We pulled these kind of pranks last year," said MacLauchlan. "This year, it drew a much more drastic reaction. … The school is trying to cut down on drinking, and they're blaming the people who live here."

Barbuto said that policies have not changed.

Sophomore John Cheever, DKE vice president, said that he would like to have better communication with the administration.

"This time last year, we had a good rapport with the administration, which has disintegrated almost completely in the last few months," Cheever said. "To us, that's almost as bad as getting our room taken away."

"We've always gotten along with security," said sophomore Vic Lamond. "They appreciate that we throw really safe parties. … Now it seems that we're being punished instead of working with the school, and it's inconsistent punishment."

Barbuto said that moving students out of the room was not directed at the DKE fraternity. "[The room] happens to be in DKE division; [the residents] happen to be DKE members," he said. "But we're dealing with the people who live in the room. … We had a matter involving only two students."

Acting Dean of Students Cheryl Steele said that the administration makes decisions such as this one with care. "In Residential Life, and in Student Affairs, decisions are made both carefully and thoughtfully in terms of the rights of all persons involved and in the interest of the community at large."

Barbuto added that moving residents out of the room shouldn't be considered "shutting down" the Bullseye. "It's not that the room is being 'locked up' for the rest of the year, it's just that no one is assigned to live there," he said. "It would be the same thing with a room in Caples … if no one lived there, it would be locked. It's just a room, no one's living there, so no one should be in there."

DKEs, however, consider the Bullseye to be more than just a room. "This is a big hit against us," said Stewart. "We all meet here, hang out here. Losing this is like losing your home."

"I have only been a member of this organization for one year, and I already have so many great memories here," said MacLauchlan. "I can't imagine how the seniors are feeling."

The Bullseye will be in use next fall, and DKEs say that it will again serve as their main room. "Obviously, we'll still have fun, but in a way that the school can't get us in trouble," said Stewart.

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