Gardner party leaves Main Hall vandalized

The Main Hall laundry room ceiling tiles were broken, smashed and crumbled on the floor after Lingerie Ball Gardner, hosted by Birding Club on Saturday, April 13. Grace Cuddihy `26 and Edie Worrell `26, members of Birding Club and hosts of the Gardner, said they cleaned up the space until 2:30 a.m., not even thinking to check the laundry room. Although they left feeling like the event was a success, their spirits clouded after seeing the damage on Grinnell’s YikYak, an anonymous social media platform, the next morning. It is unclear who is responsible for the damage. 

If the students responsible for the damages do not come forward, Cuddihy said the cost of repair “would come out of my personal bank account.”

“We have identified students we saw going in and out of the laundry room to Ben Newhouse, but in the case that they are determined to be not guilty, Valery [Mayorga Garcia `26, social coordinator of Birding Club] and I will be financially responsible for the damage,” she said. Citing the policy outlined in an email from Newhouse, Cuddihy said event hosts are typically responsible for any damages that occur. 

Cuddihy and Worrell said they assumed students were punching the ceiling tiles, but they could not confirm what actually happened. They said the laundry machines looked jostled around and the door to one of the washers had been torn off — although Annie Wilber `27, who lives in Main, said the door was broken prior to the Gardner. 

The door to a washing machine in Main Hall was broken during a previous Gardner party. (Meilynn Smith)

Cuddihy said they came to the laundry room the next day to throw away the ceiling tiles and sweep the dust off the floor. “That’s not the responsibility of facilities management to deal with,” she said, “but obviously there are some things that are just beyond our capacity to handle.” 

This was after Birding Club members spent two hours after the event cleaning up the space. “We were really committed to keeping the space clean and being respectful,” Cuddihy said. “We were picking up dirty rose petals with our hands that had been stepped on all night.”  

In terms of the damage, Worrell said, “I think it’s insanely disrespectful.” 

As a host, she said her priority throughout the night was to make sure people felt safe, comfortable and knowledgeable about where to get help if they needed it. Hosts wore glow-in-the-dark bracelets so they could be easily identifiable. 

“My job is not to make sure that you are not destroying college property,” Worrell said. “I’m a fellow peer who has been very gracious in creating and hosting this event. It drives me crazy that people would even think that it’s okay. They are taking such advantage of our kindness and the work and effort we spent putting on this awesome event for them.” 

Lingerie Ball had been in the works since February, Cuddihy and Worrell said. Ordering decorations, coordinating with Freesound, Grinnell Concerts Committee and Jordon Ryan `24, the featured musical artist –– setting up, cleaning and adhering to their budget took the club “hours and hours of work,” Cuddihy said. 

Hayden Suarez-Davis `25 and Liv Larson `26, Student Government Association (SGA) Concerts Chairs, co-wrote in an email to The S&B that, “this level of damage was far beyond what we’ve seen in the past.” 

“We are both really sad and disappointed by it. It’s very disrespectful to students hosting events — they put in hours of unpaid work so that Grinnellians can have something to do on weekend nights,” they wrote. “Not only is it disrespectful to students, but it’s also extremely disrespectful to the Facilities Management workers who are the ones cleaning up and repairing the damage. It’s the antithesis of self-gov, and makes things worse for everyone on campus.”

During the Lingerie Ball itself, Cuddihy and Grace both said they thought the event went well. 

“People seemed like they were having a really good time,” Cuddihy said. “As a host, I didn’t have people coming up to me with concerns.” 

“I think overall it was really successful,” Worrell said. “The turnout was really really good.” 

Wilber, who attended the event to see Jordon Ryan around 11 p.m., said, “I thought it was a very fun event while I was there.” But when she saw the laundry room the next morning, she said she was surprised. “I think it’s inconsiderate. I don’t know why people thought that was a good idea to do during a party because I feel like it has the potential to ruin Gardners for the whole student body, even though it was probably just one or two people.” 

Elyse Pender `27, a Main Hall resident, said the damages to the laundry room and messes after parties like Lingerie Ball are, “more of a nuisance than a big issue.” 

Even so, she discussed the aftermath of Kink Gardner where she said there were “disgusting things to see as a resident” such as “used condoms on the floor outside the elevator.”  

“I think there’s just a larger culture right now where people are not being respectful when they are coming to events,” Cuddihy said. Worrell echoed that sentiment and said damage similar to what happened in Main Hall is recurring more frequently. 

“We love hosting and we want to keep doing it, but [Birding] Club is primarily made up of small women, and if you’re punching the ceiling, as a host I don’t feel comfortable engaging in that situation,” Cuddihy said. “We had a really fun time, we thought this was a successful evening, but now this has been really stressful and it could increase the financial burden on us as individuals.” 

Worrell said in order for Birding Club to host events in the future, they have to take this event into account. Additionally, the threat of a potential “financial burden that is going to lay on the individual students is going to be a deterrent,” she said.