Another March has gone by, and with it, another House Party Weekend. It is true that the formal nature of this event has been stripped in recent years, but House Party is not just an event, but an idea, and ideas are very hard to kill.

There is of course some question as to exactly what to call the unofficial festivities. I prefer the somber, ironic dignity of “House Party Memorial Weekend,” but I am also a jaded senior who will soon be jetting off to places with buildings that are more than ten feet tall. This sort of thing is no longer in my hands. I implore all you underclassmen who remain here to have enough respect for yourselves to pick a name with some gravitas to it.

I can’t quite decide whether the cancellation of official House Party celebrations was justified or not. It brings to mind the classic J.P. Morgan quip: “A man always has two reasons for what he does—a good one and the real one.” The official reason given for the cancellation of House Party was the high number of hospitalized students and the potential risks of allowing such behavior to continue. Was it the real reason behind the decision? I suspect not, but this still does not provide a definitive answer as to whether the decision was just or not. In the end, I am not even convinced that the “real reason” (if there is one other than that which was given) really matters all that much.

I am historically literate enough to know that what we know as “House Party” is a watered-down shell of what it once was. I am historically literate enough to know that there have been years in which Lewisburg had to bus in riot police to deal with the festivities. I am historically literate enough to know that there is evidence to contest the claim that House Party in our time had become more problematic than at any other time in its history.

I won’t deny that there were problems. There were those who seemed to forget that “drinking” is not synonymous with “partying hard,” and so drinking became their focus instead of raging. Bucknellian and bacchanalian can so easily slide hand-in-hand, but doing so artfully requires a deftness and finesse that some seem to lack.

The best thing about “unofficial” movements is that they can’t afford to get sloppy. They have to stay sharp, be on top of their game, and avoid mistakes at all costs. They either adapt or die. There is a good chance that House Party will die. If it doesn’t though, it will transform into something sleeker, smoother, and more exclusive. The natural impetus at that point will be to make it bigger, and have more entities coordinating with each other to put it on. From there? The next step is re-formalization as an official University event.

Those who disbelieve in sorcery are fooling themselves, for the resurrection of House Party would be necromancy in a very real sense of the term. It is a feat that is far from impossible. All that it requires is for enough people to be willing and able to bring back the magic.