The LSU Residence Hall Association held last Thursday its first ‘Doin’ the Shoe’ block party in the horseshoe parking lot off Highland Road. While RHA said the event was a success, some students said the party caused safety and other concerns.
The block party was held for LSU student housing residents in particular, said Michael Krom, president of RHA.
“Basically, we were planning in the summer and decided to have one huge block party,” Krom said. “We just set out to make it the biggest and best RHA block party ever.”
After it was over, RHA spent $750 on pizza, gave away $200 in various prizes and $300 in RHA merchandise, Krom said.
“I’d say we had about 500 people there at the busiest time,” he said.
In order to throw the block party, RHA teamed up with the Office of Parking, Traffic and Transportation to clear out the 90 parking spaces in the horseshoe parking lot, leaving some residents of Grace King, Annie Boyd, Evangeline, Highland and Louis Garig Halls to find alternate parking.
Lauren Duhon, biological sciences sophomore and a resident of Highland Hall, said her usual five-minute walk turned into a 15-minute walk.
“They (RHA) sent a mass e-mail inviting everyone to this party,” Duhon said, “but we didn’t find out we had to move our cars until the day of the party.”
Duhon said the noise outside her dorm was too loud for her to concentrate on a test she had the next day.
“My windows and desk were vibrating, and I’m not exaggerating,” she said.
Safety also was a concern for many residents, Duhon said. “A lot of people had to move their cars while it was dark,” she said.
Gary Graham, director of Parking, Traffic and Transportation, said this was not the first time something like this has been done.
Graham said his department clears out parking areas for almost any department or student group.
“We make sure it’s something we can do, it’s reasonable and it’s not going to cause a substantial problem,” Graham said.
In an anonymous e-mail sent to the Reveille, an off-campus resident expressed concern for the safety of women residents in particular.
“I think this move was unsafe,” the e-mail said. “And with the serial killer striking so close to campus, consider the mental state of female residents.”
Kristi Ybarzabal, RHA director of public affairs, said the residents had plenty of time to move their cars out of the horseshoe area.
“They put fliers out and spread the word around the residence halls,” Ybarzabal said. “They had advance notice so they would know they could not park there.”
Ybarzabal said considering the size of the horseshoe lot, the move did not affect most of the residents.
“We’ve held a party over at Broussard for a couple of years now and that always required the moving of cars,” she said.
Krom said the move was not an easy task, but enhanced the party. “We had traffic block off the entrance to the horseshoe at about 4 p.m. that day,” he said. “At 6, all the cars were gone, and it allowed us to put on a better program.”
Duhon said if the party was held at a different location, such as the Parade Ground, it would be avoidable. “But when the party’s right by your house, you’re kind of forced to participate,” she said.