I’ve heard talk that Castle hasn't had an open host since O-Week. What’s up with that? Ya scared?
If you live on Castle, you have a communal responsibility to throw open hosts beyond the bare minimum dates of O- and Re-O-Weeks. That’s what Castle is known for, and it’s why you moved there. You can’t choose to move to a new location because of all the promises it offers and then pull up the ladder behind you; that’s like moving to Wanaka to be close to the mountains and then being upset when other people move there after you because “it’s getting too crowded”.
The older students (is third-year old?) recognise what’s going on here and, honestly, it’s pretty cringe. The entire point of Castle is to live communally and play host to the heart of Dunedin culture, and if you close it off it’ll become a gated and elitist community rife with incest and infighting. Nobody wants that. Even worse, it means that people won’t want to move there next year because they won’t have the communal party memories associated with it, so you’d be responsible for killing the reputation of Dunedin’s most notorious street. Not to be dramatic or anything.
“But wait!” you say, “The reason we’re making it exclusive is because strangers keep trashing our flats!” Ah, yes. There are two problems with this: firstly, that’s not new. Literally everyone before you dealt with that and you knew what they were signing up for. You can’t get mad at the rollercoaster operator because your tummy got upset, right? It’s a rollercoaster. Second, this problem is valid, but it doesn’t mean that the answer is closing off your parties. The responsibility to not be a dick falls on all of our shoulders and, instead of closing off the party, maybe we need to eliminate the behaviour. I recommend the public shaming of people who steal or break things, it really brings the neighbourhood together. Besides, the awkwardness of calling out that behaviour is worth preserving the culture.
Now, I’m all about having safer parties, but that’s a different discussion. We all know what goes on at Castle and it’s not going to change any time soon. The only difference is: if you’re not letting other people into the hosts, they won’t have any reason to want to take over the flats, and then the culture begins to die. Who wants to go to a host on Castle if the hosts themselves are exclusive? That’s bad vibes. Don’t be bad vibes.
If you’re gonna live on Castle, live on Castle. No half measures. You knew what you were signing up for, and if I see another private Courtyard Ball I’ll cry. You’ve gotta use it or lose it. If you don’t honour the Castle culture, it will honestly just move somewhere else. You won’t be cool anymore. I’m sure Leith is chomping at the bit for a chance to take the title of most notorious party street… you just gonna roll over and let them take it?