By Lawrence Bayley, Whetstone Contributor

If you were wondering why Wesley College is not allowing anymore Homecoming parties or dances this year, think about what happened last fall.

The sound of crashing bottles, screams from students running from pepper spray and police sirens left Wesley College Homecoming weekend a mess. The dance party that turned into a melee was for Wesley college students only. But students from Delaware State University crashed the dance and trouble ensued.

As of now, Wesley can consider itself suspended from any party events. Because of the number of students hurt or injured during last semester’s Homecoming, Wesley will not hold dances.

“Until we find a safe way to have dances without putting students in danger, Wesley will have no more dances,” said Wanda Anderson, dean of student life. “But we are organizing a safer method to have dances without students being put in danger.”

Eddie Escobar, a sophomore student, said it’s unfair that the actions of non-Wesley students stopped all dances.

“Wesley already doesn’t give us things to do,” Escobar said. “Weekends are boring, and every week is the same thing. It’s not our fault somebody let outsiders in and they didn’t know how to act. We are all young adults who should be able to learn from our mistakes and not make the same ones twice.”

Maybe, he said, Wesley should have been stricter at the gymnasium door, and had more security to avoid the fight.

Freshman John Caughman after getting hit with a bottle

“I can’t blame Wesley for not wanting to have any more school dances,” said sophomore Ronald Valentine. “It was very dangerous last Homecoming dance. Some students were fighting against DSU students, who weren’t even supposed to be there.  The damages and violence might have scared the school so bad that they said no more.”

On the other hand, he said, dances are all about meeting new people.

“Maybe Wesley could provide more security at dances because the ones we got now are not scaring anybody from acting out,” he said.

Other students would rather not have dances if outsiders aren’t invited; to them, it makes the dance more exciting, dancing with people you don’t know.

Bernard Sherman, a junior at Wesley, doesn’t care about having any more school dances if nearby schools can’t attend.

“I get tired of dancing with the same girls at Wesley,” he said. “Outsiders make it more fun. It gives me a reason to dress up and get fly for. I’ll just wait until (outside DJs) have parties at the halls. The Wesley DJs are corny – they never play the real jams for us to dance to.”