As commencement approaches, there is a lot of talk among Binghamton University seniors about end-of-year festivities, not least of all, Bar Crawl.
An annual tradition on the Thursday of finals week during spring semester, Bar Crawl is a day when students flood Downtown Binghamton for a round of bar-hopping and boozy parading in the streets. Local establishments such as Dillinger’s, JT’s Tavern, Scoreboard, Tom & Marty’s, Uncle Tony’s will offer low-cost drink specials all day.
The Student Association is selling $12 mugs for students to use at the bars during Bar Crawl in the SA Office, located in room 203 in the New University Union. Bar Crawl is not a Student Association event, but it generally attracts high student participation.
Brian Gillespie, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering, said Bar Crawl is a good way to unwind at the end of the school year.
“It’s a lot of fun. You just go, hang out with people and get drunk,” Gillespie said.
Gillespie said that he and his friends were ordering T-shirts to wear as a group for Thursday.
“We want to be super cool on Bar Crawl,” Gillespie said.
Planning for Bar Crawl is underway in the Campus Community Coalition, which consists of representatives of the Binghamton Mayor’s office, city police and firefighters, the BU Dean of Students Office, Off Campus College, the Senior Class Council and local business owners.
“The Coalition focuses on reducing potential harm by making sure things are being done safely and legally,” said OCC Director David Husch.
Husch said he hopes that students have fun during Bar Crawl, but that they also remain considerate of safety and legal boundaries. He warned that Binghamton Police will have extra officers in the Downtown area Thursday.
“Should students be arrested at Bar Crawl, those arrests will be reviewed for possible sanctions through the office of Student Conduct,” Husch said.
This year, Broome Community College will have its graduation ceremonies the same day as Bar Crawl at the Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena, in the immediate vicinity of the Downtown bars. To try to maintain public order around the graduation ceremony, the Senior Class Council distributed notices inside Bar Crawl mugs asking students to “please be mindful and respectful” of the BCC graduation.
The Alumni Association and the Student Association are also sponsoring a free barbeque for graduation seniors, named “VIP Senior Stop,” which will be held from 3 to 6 p.m. inside Terra Cotta catering service at 81 State St.
“The idea for this event was actually raised to us by senior leaders,” said Melinda Holicky, assistant director of alumni relations and student programming at BU. “We wanted to have an event to celebrate their graduation and introduce them to the next stage of their life as alumni.”
Cory Jankow, president of the Senior Class Council, said that the idea for the VIP Senior Stop was originally brought forward by Aaron Cohn, vice president for programming for the SA.
“[Cohn] approached me with the idea around Frost Fest, and, after speaking to him, we both really liked the idea,” Jankow said. “It was clear the next step was to get the Alumni Association involved because we wanted it to be a Welcome to the Alumni Association event.”
In addition to food from Terra Cotta, VIP Senior Stop will offer live music by The Parlor Cats, a Southern Tier blues band. The event will also features prizes and giveaways, including apparel and gift cards.
Jankow said that large numbers of students as well as alumni are expected to attend. Jankow also said attendees will be checked against a list of names from commencement to confirm that they are graduating this semester.
“We are estimating a couple hundred [students and alumni] will come to the event, if not more,” Jankow said.
Lung Chen, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said he is excited about attending the VIP Senior Stop.
“Free food? I love free food,” Chen said. “And I live like five minutes away from State Street, so I’m definitely going.”