At 12:30 a.m. attendance was sparse, and head party monitor Steve Vladeck '01 consulted with the DJ about the poor attendance.
"There was virtually no one there Saturday night." By 12:45, Vladeck sent the eight other party monitors and the DJ home.
"TAP is where people meet up after pre-parties, usually around 1:00," said Sahar Siddiqui '02. "The decision was made too early and disappointed many people."
But Vladeck emphasized that under normal circumstances, this decision should not fall solely on the shoulders of the head party monitor. The Social Council (SoCo) is responsible for the presence of at least one of its members at TAP at all times. On Saturday night the party monitors were unable to find or contact a Social Council representative.
"I'm not trying to blame SoCo, but I had to make a judgement call that resulted from the lack of a clear policy," said Vladeck
Vladeck said this is the first time in two years as a party monitor that such a problem has occurred.
Campus Police Officer Ali Wicks confirmed that TAP had never been shut down due to lack of attendance before.
"We've had to shut down TAP in the past because of fire alarms or behavior problems, but never because of low attendance," Wicks said.
Social Council Chairwoman Erica Hewes '02 said that she did not agree with the decision, but she said that she recognizes that the party monitors were placed in a difficult situation. "It's not anyone's fault, but TAP should not have been shut down," she said.
To prevent similar situations from arising in the future, the Social Council met Monday evening to draft procedural guidelines for the overseeing of TAP.
Hewes said the Council reached two conclusions. First, TAP will never be shut down again due to lack of attendance. Second, a list of Social Council members planning to attend TAP will be distributed to the student security monitors. There was also dialogue about having TAP between the hours of 12:00 and 3:00 a.m.
SoCo's decisions were reached in cooperation with the campus police, according to Wicks.
"TAP was really successful Casino weekend when held during later hours," said Hewes.
However, Vladeck said that he does not favor this change. "We're there so that Campus Police doesn't have to be. ... We're students too and that may be asking too much of the monitors."