This year’s Senior prank, a dance party in the Garver Room, resulted in a library lock-down, leaving underclassmen without a place to study. Members of the Class of 2006 were secretly informed on Wednesday night about the dance party. The next day, Dan Bacon ’06 and Faisal Kassam ‘06 sat down in Garver around 7:30. During this time, Seniors entered the library en masse, according to Bacon. He then placed an iPod in its speakers at 7:44 PM. When he noticed that the librarians were growing suspicious of the mounting anticipation, he pulled the stereo out of his backpack, handed it to Kassam, and yelled, “‘06 dance party!” Seniors rushed into the Garver Room in response to Bacon’s call. Chants of “06” thundered from the mouths of jumping, dancing Seniors as lowerclassmen watched from their seats. Librarians tried to usher the Seniors out of Garver. The crowd eventually dispersed as Seniors. reveled on the terrace in the aftermath of their successful prank. The frenzy began after Bacon said, “Let’s take this party back inside.” Blasting the stereo, Bacon led his class back into the library, only to be barred by the librarians at the main entrance. Scotty Morgan ’06 then took the boom box and led his class into Garver through the back door of the library. According to Instructional Librarian Rachel Penner, “People got pumped up and they let their adrenaline carry them too far.” An unidentified Senior trying to enter the library pushed a proctor who was blocking the doors. Shortly afterwards, Ms. Penner locked the library. She said, “I thought everybody needed some time to cool off.” Students who had left the library earlier were trapped outside without their backpacks. Those with tests to study for pleaded with the Phillips Academy Public Safety (PAPS) officer stationed outside the door, but the library stayed locked for about 25 minutes. Bacon said, “I feel like they overreacted.“ Although the consensus among seniors seemed to be that the librarians overreacted to the prank, most were unaware that someone had pushed a proctor. A circulating rumor said a librarian was “assaulted,” which most considered an overstatement. Ms. Penner contacted the Cluster Deans, but could not get in touch with Marlys Edwards, Dean of Students and Residential Life, that night. Ms. Penner said, “I don’t mind the prank [itself] at all. The issue about this was that it went on way too long, it got out of hand, and someone intentionally got pushed.” Bacon said, “I’ve spoken with the library officials and everything’s been cleared up. I think it was quite successful and I hope there are more pranks.” After the event, rumors deluged campus, but Bacon was not arrested, no one called the police, the dance party did not cost any senior his diploma, and no one’s college acceptance was rescinded. Bacon said, “The good thing is that this was a harmless prank; it didn’t endanger anyone’s life. It was a chance for the Class of 2006 to have some fun, and it really brought the class closer together over these last few weeks.” A video of the prank, posted by Molly Ozimek-Maier ’07, can be seen on www.youtube.com, under the search “06 dance party.” Ozimek-Maier’s online description of the video included, “The dance party in Garver was truly amazing, and everyone will always remember it.” Although the class of 2004 attempted the same prank, librarians prevented it by enclosing Garver in yellow caution tape. Bacon said, “From 04’s failure, I thought ’06 could succeed.” Past senior classes attempted even more notorious pranks. The Class of 2003 planned to release a stink bomb during All-School meeting in their Senior Spring, but the prank was foiled. Instead, they threw water balloons as students left the Chapel. Another year, seniors disassembled a faculty member’s car and reassembled it in an academic building. The Class of 1976 placed alarm clocks throughout the library and set them to all go off at 8:00. After gaining notoriety for their “Oh Six Dance Party,” one of the few successful pranks in the past years, the Class of 2006 will not soon be forgotten.
