A first-year student was struck by a bottle thrown into a crowd at a Head of the Charles dance Friday night.

Joy Y. Chen '96 suffered head injuries in the incident, which took place in the ballroom of the Hyatt Regency. Emergency workers took Chen to University Health Services, where she was treated and released at about 3 a.m. Saturday.

Chen said yesterday she did not know why she was assaulted. "Basically some very stupid people, who I assume were completely wasted, decided it would be really cool to throw bottles into the middle of a crowded dance floor," she said.

Police were unable to identify the offenders, Hyatt officials said.

Chen said the incident occurred just before lights were turned on in the dark, crowded ballroom.

"I got hit and I put my hand on my head and when I brought it down it was completely covered with blood," she said.

Attendance at the dance, which was organized by local college Chinese American student groups, swelled at times to 1000 local students and visitors, organizers said.

Chen said that about 10 minutes before she was hit, a friend who was dancing nearby was struck in the shoulder by a bottle. The friend, Cara J. Tseng '96, said she and Chen did not report the first incident.

"I thought it was a shoe," said Tseng. "It felt like the heel of a shoe."

A cash bar sold beer throughout the night, Chang said.

Chen spoke light-heartedly yesterday about her experience. "I had fun--I mean up until the bottle hit me," she said.