celeste fowles

Zonker Harris Day invited Wes students and pre-frosh alike to get their groove on.

Events began in the West College (WestCo) Courtyard at noon and continued until around 6 p.m. Festivities included music by DJs and various live bands, as well as barbecuing and
face-painting.

"The sun wasn’t shining, but everyone seemed to be having a good time," said Lara Perez-Longobardo ’01, a resident advisor at WestCo. "All of my residents were playing with beach balls and foamy swords. It was a carnival-type atmosphere."

The Slip, Guy on Fire, Millhouse, the WesTech Love Foundation and the Miracle Orchestra were among the bands featured at Zonker Harris Day. DJs Chris Simmons ’03 and Eric Silver ’03 also provided music for the event.

"It was a day-long festival of music," said Matt Lerner ’03, a WestCo president and organizer of the event. "The whole point of the festival was to celebrate free expression, diversity, music, happiness and Spring."

The event was strongly attended. Approximately 50 students were present at noon, and attendence steadily increased throughout the day, with around 150 students remaining by the end of the day.

"There weren’t many people on the hill, but lots where the band was playing," said Josh Koch ’01. "There were all sorts of people there. It was nice because WestCo was comfortably filled so that you didn’t feel weird to be there, but it wasn’t too crowded so that you couldn’t move."

"We got a bunch of toys, like bubbles and hula hoops for students to have fun with," Lerner said. "We also had pre-wrapped candies to disperse to people, and the ice cream man came as well."

Zonker Harris Day acquired its name from the marijuana-using Doonesbury cartoon characters. 

"I was completely stoned out of my mind and had a really good time," said Manny Sharma ’01. "I saw Slip, a groove-oriented rock band, and they were really good. Later the DJ came out and played. It was fun, it was just a bunch of people milling around having a good time."

According to Perez-Longobardo, there was some initial apprehension about the event from the administration. She said Hill was concerned about drawing negative publicity regarding the drug theme of the event, especially in light of the recent press coverage in The New York Times of nudity at WestCo. 

Earlier this semester, Hill attended WestCo Guidance and urged students at the event to abstain from marijuana use. She also suggested that students change the name of Zonker Harris Day, according to Perez-Longobardo.

"I was asked to mill around and make sure that my residents and other students weren’t using drugs outside," Perez-Longobardo said. "The Middletown Police and Public Safety were monitoring the event and we didn’t want any students to get into trouble."

According to Lerner, the day went smoothly, easing Hill’s concerns. Public Safety did not report any incidents.

"I had said before that I didn’t feel that there would be any negative publicity, and as far as I could tell nobody was there snapping pictures and making bad conclusions about WestCo," Lerner said. "People just came and had a good time."

Despite Hill’s apprehension and the extra caution concerning student drug use at the event, Zonker Harris Day was successful in providing an upbeat and relaxing outlet for students.

"It was really nice to be able to chill. It was sprinkling, and the weather just held out enough for us to have a good time," Koch said. "It was warm, comfortable and relaxing time, which is nice to have in the middle of the semester."

The event was sponsored by WestCo, and in particular by Guidance, the governing body of WestCo, which consists of its five presidents and participating residents. The presidents of WestCo made small contributions to the festival as well.