Schools
Revamped Clam Jam Receives High Marks in Fairfield
Fairfield University's end-of-year celebration, which has traditionally drawn the ire of residents, was reined in with several changes.
The results are in and the revamped, and relatively calm, Clam Jam was apparently well-received by all and officials involved believe this will be the new normal with Fairfield University’s end-of-the-year beach bash.
The party had traditionally become a booze fest for students, drawing at times more than 5,000 people from all over, and enraged neighborhood residents.
However, there were no arrests made during last Saturday’s party, no ambulance calls for drunk students and only a few tickets were handed out for infractions, the Fairfield Citizen reports.
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The big change made to this year’s celebration was the party was sponsored by Fairfield University, in conjunction with the students’ Beach Resident Advocacy Group (B.R.A.G.), and was held for the first time at Penfield Beach and a series of access and crowd-control rules were enforced.
Tickets were limited to only 1,500 students (which drew the ire of some underclassmen when the event sold out before they had a chance to buy them) and entry was strictly prohibited without a ticket and a valid ID/Stag card.
Find out what's happening in Fairfieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Thomas Pellegrino, vice president for student affairs at Fairfield University, told Genevieve Reilly of the Fairfield Citizen that he sees this revamped Clam Jam as the “new tradition.”
Unlike past years, when the party hosts had lots of kegs but little food, Fairfield University provided food throughout the day and Fairfield Deputy Police Chief Chris Lyddy said that was a key factor for the calm celebration.
“Food tends to limit alcohol consumption,” Lyddy told the Citizen.
He also said that the only negative comment police received from an area resident was related to the volume of the music.
Read more about the response to the revamped Clam Jam at the Fairfield Citizen here.
Patch file photo of a Clam Jam party in 2012
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