Fifteen Minutes: The Formal Exclusive

Wondering where all that chilly air down by the river is coming from? Try the Quad, where Cabot has turned a cold shoulder to Pforzheimer and Currier, its Quadling neighbors.

It all started at last year's fall quad Formal. When representatives from the three houses planned the dance, they agreed to split the costs evenly--and they didn't make any provisions for dividing up the profits. According to Brandon Jones '00, the current Cabot House Committee co-chair, his was the only House that put together an adequate publicity blitz. Since they brought in more of the ticket sales (and took greater advantage of the open bar), Cabot residents wanted a larger percentage of the profits. Without a contract to back them up, the Currier and Pforzheimer representatives reluctantly obliged, and both houses ended up taking a loss on the event (nearly $800 for PfoHo).

This year, however, PfoHo and Currier joined forces and presented their larger Quad rival with "an ultimatum," in the words of Pforzheimer HoCo Chair Manuel A. Garcia '00, to "either have a fairer system, or we're going to have our own formal." Adds Currier House Committee chair Daniel L. Cendan '00, also a Crimson editor, "Our offer was equal in, equal out." Jones and Melissa Mueller '00, the other Cabot co-chair, brought the proposal back to their House masters and senior tutor, and, Jones claims, with an understanding that Currier and PfoHo "couldn't guarantee to put in one-third of the effort." Because of the previous year's problems with overindulgence of alcohol at both the fall and spring Cabot formals, as well as the financial situation, the Cabot powers-that-be decided to remove themselves from this year's quad Formal and plan their own private event.

This year's dance, say Cendan and Garcia, will be known as "The Best of the Quad" Formal. Residents of all three houses downplay the effects this move will have on Quad relations. Cendan and Garcia are already planning more Quad-wide events and would be happy to include Cabot--but only with three-way divisions of work and profit. And, according to Jones, "[This year's situation] doesn't preclude future chances of having a Quad formal."