The party-goers also cheered and chanted for the arriving first-years, but had some antics of their own: improvised signs and an ample supply of alcoholic beverages. With messages like “You Honk, We Drink”, “Moms Drink For Free” and “Girlfriend Tryouts Tonight”, the signs quickly attracted the attention of school administrators and the Gustie Greeters.

The Gustie Greeters, a fifty-member organization endorsed and selected by the College, are tasked with welcoming first-year students to Gustavus and easing their transition into college life, helping their “Greetees,” as they are known, work through issues like homesickness and relationship woes.

The administration also expressed concern about the image the party-goers present of Gustavus, namely that the move-in day parties disproportionately highlight certain aspects of the Gustavus community and make them appear common place and trivial.

“We know that there is excessive alcohol use and that there is sexual violence within this community, so why would students or members of this community take such a cavalier, lighthearted approach to that? I think it’s offensive,” Associate Dean of Students Stephen Bennett said.  Bennett walked down to the parties to open a dialogue with students.

Bennett noted that while students may think their actions harmless, they’re neglecting a differing perspective.

“I get that students may think that it’s innocent or fun, but the reality is, there’s a different perspective. They don’t hear about the complaints, and they’re not concerned about how that’s being perceived and what the impact is on other people,” Bennett said.

Among the other administrators who visited the parties were Director of Admission Rich Aune, who declined to comment for this article, and Dean of Academic Programs Barbara Kaiser.

Whatever its place in the Gustavus community, partying is not the image that the Gustavus administration wants to officially present or to have associated with the college.

“Our intention was to go down there and to engage students in conversation about what they’re doing. It wasn’t to create a scene,” Bennett said. “It was to try to have reasonable conversations with students and present our concerns.”

Not all Gusties see partying as a negative thing to present to incoming first-years. Some see it as their own version of welcoming new students.

“You show up [to campus] and it’s like, ‘I need to get my books and I need to grow up,’ but we’re there to say, ‘It’s also okay to have a good time here’.” Senior Mathematics Major Tom Jaede said.

While unable to come to an agreement, students and administrators attempted to understand where the other group was coming from. The party-going students agreed to remove the signs that the administrators found most objectionable.

“One of the signs had a giant penis on it. I don’t even know why someone would say: ‘Yeah, that would be fun to put up,’ but I think the ones that were sexual in nature were pretty quickly handled,” Jaede said.

While they take very different approaches, the Greeters and the party-goers shared a common goal: welcome the new first-year class with positivity.

“You get to see a new wave of your peers and you want to be there to welcome them,” Jaede said.

“It’s not an us versus them situation. We would love if they could jump on board with what we would like to see. If they want to cheer, great, but don’t have signs that are inappropriate and don’t have a keg in your yard,” Lee said.

Bennett appreciated the opportunity to engage in dialogue with students about the differing view points and feels that at the end of the day, any situation like this is about communication.

“That’s what I love about our students. I had some good conversations. They presented a perspective, I tried to present a perspective, and at the end of the day I think we disagreed on some things, but what I appreciate is their willingness to have the conversation. Maybe there is opportunity for us to continue that in some way. That’s what we have to be about. We have to be about talking to each other. That’s the world in which we live,” Bennett said.