Several parties hosted in the Quad recently took on a wilder tone. From the debauchery of the Swan White cast party last semester to a lingerie party in Cabot House, some Quadlings experience parties of a different sort.

A Christmas-season party started by Sarah D. Pershouse '99 and friends has also become an annual event. In 1996, they hosted a seasonal party with a "touchable fabrics" theme in Adams House.

"It was a fun idea," Pershouse says. "I think people got into the novelty of it."

People wore such tactile fabrics as leather, vinyl, velvet and silk. Pershouse says an important feature of the event was the "suggestive invitation" that people could send to "their crushes."

In its two successive years, other Adams suites have carried on this tradition, Pershouse says.

Finally, there is always the possibility of getting creative with parties during the week--namely, study breaks.

Jesse S. Downs '00 and Alexandra C. Budabin '00 hosted a Halloween study break in their Canaday Hall room during their first-year. In preparation for the event, they painted gravestones on the ceiling and walls with Tide detergent, which glows in black lights. Each gravestone was marked by personalized anecdotes to represent each person in the entryway, says Downs.

"It was fantastic," Budabin says.