Courtesy of Clara Jergins

Despite a three-year wait and several administrative changes, Bowdoin students took to the Harpswell and Main Quads last week to celebrate the annual Ivies Weekend. Based on institutional memory from the Office of Safety and Security, the weekend was relatively tame. Only one student received a citation from the Brunswick Police Department (BPD), and only one student was transported to Mid Coast Hospital. No complaints were received from the Brunswick community that resulted in a security report.

Security usually expects frequent neighborhood complaints and reports from the BPD during Ivies weekend. This year, however, there were no complaints and despite the BPD issuing multiple warnings on Friday night, only one student received a citation.

Far fewer warnings were issued on Saturday night, after Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols sent an advisory email to the student body telling students to revise their behavior, make good decisions and stop carrying open containers of alcohol. Nichols was pleased with the lack of security violations.

“Overall, [the weekend was] very successful and nobody got arrested. Nobody got injured,” Nichols said. “We thank the students for their efforts to help us pull that off.”

Nichols noted that moving the Spring Concert to an earlier weekend led to a smaller feel to the weekend. Ivies this year also replaced the Brunswick Quad Day event with a similar event at the Harpswell Apartment Quad, where it was easier to contain students from disturbing the Brunswick community. The layout of Harpswell Apartments keeps students from public view and keeps their sound directed toward Bowdoin property.

Nichols and Associate Director of Safety and Security Bill Harwood thanked students for cleaning up so thoroughly. They specifically mentioned students who hosted at Park Row, Boody-Johnson and Harpswell Quad.

There were a few security violations over the course of the weekend, however. Security had to respond to a fire alarm pull on the twelfth floor of Coles Tower, a break-in on the fire escape of Reed House, a couple of counts of public urination and general wellness checks, which are otherwise typical weekend occurrences.

Unrelated to Ivies, five juveniles, who were not Bowdoin students, broke into the Arctic Museum and Mills Hall construction site and were issued warnings by the BPD. The BPD also issued warnings to Bowdoin students for underage consumption of alcohol.

Overall, in terms of security, Ivies 2022 was a success compared to other years, although Nichols believes that Ivies has always been a success.

“I’ve been here for 18 years, I’ve always enjoyed Ivies,” Nichols said. “We always were able to run it in a way that was generally safe. My best memories actually, over the past 18 years, are Ivies-related.”