Wofford’s long-standing security team will no longer work at “the row”

“Wofford I.D., please” are often the three words heard that symbolize the start of another weekend at Wofford. Until recently, this line was uttered by employees of Event Partners Incorporated (EPI), who composed Wofford’s wristbanding and security team, maintaining safety and order, ensuring unwanted visitors did not make it into the fraternity houses. 

The night of Sept. 24 was not a typical evening at the Stewart H. Johnson Greek Village, or “the row.” EPI had a particularly troubling weekend at the row due to a large number of non-Wofford guests attempting to make their way into the houses. 

It is believed that many challenging confrontations,  EPI being short staffed and fears of the lingering effects of COVID-19, despite Wofford’s 90.2% student vaccination rate, all created the perfect storm in which EPI decided to resign from offering their services at the Stewart H. Johnson Greek Village.

EPI has faithfully served the Wofford community since 2017. Dean Ashley Owen, the new assistant dean of students for leadership programs and fraternity and sorority life, ensured that EPI will continue to work other events on campus, but not the row. 

There are new measures in place to maintain safety at the Greek village as doing so is of the utmost importance to all Wofford administration and students alike. 

Dean Owen said that there are currently no outside organizations that can offer the required staff that the Greek village mandates per night of the weekend, but there appears to be a solution. The Interfraternity Council (IFC) at Wofford chose to hire six 21+ students for Friday and Saturday nights one weekend to act in place of EPI. 

This did not go over well with members of these fraternities and had placed a greater emphasis on their Sober Party Monitors (SPM) that are a requirement each house has on each night the row is open. The main goal of these SPMs is to keep unapproved visitors out. 

Because of the new recruitment of older fraternity members to act as EPI, that leaves few to act as SPMs, resulting in many members having to SPM multiple weekends in a row. 

Ben Heaton ’23 was one of the students whom EPI spoke with during their last minutes as security at the row. Heaton said that EPI approached him and asked who the giant crowd of people was outside the Kappa Sigma house. Heaton told them that they were USC Upstate students that they did not want in the house. EPI simply told him to get them out of the way and walked back to their table.

“They [EPI] really just let too many people in that they could handle, and it got out of hand,” said Heaton. 

Members of these fraternities are hankering for an explanation from EPI as to why they suddenly decided to terminate their agreement with Wofford, in the middle of the row’s opening hours on a Friday night. One of the SPM’s that evening was sophomore Jay Welch ‘24.

“I think we are owed an explanation as to why EPI quit on us,” said Welch. “It doesn’t benefit them as a company, nor us as a school to have them leave. Without an explanation, we won’t have any way to fix mistakes we may have made or that could have made their jobs easier. EPI was typically very nice to us but leaving us blindsided and without a week’s notice is very unprofessional.”

Dean Owen has commended Wofford students for picking up the slack and going above and beyond in respect to serving members of this campus by being “the new EPI.”

“In true Wofford form, the students managing the check-in and security process were exemplary,” said Dean Owen. “I think the rapport that Wofford students have with one another really lead to a great experience for both those who were working and those who attended events that weekend. Students coming up to the tables were respectful of their peers and their role in the security process. Those working were jovial and welcoming to our students because they have an established relationship with one another. I think this dynamic allowed for both nights that weekend to run very smoothly.”

The decision to continue employing Wofford students to serve as security at the row was not an easy one, but Dean Owen and her team had come to the conclusion that this policy will remain in place until the end of the semester. 

This choice will be re-evaluated mid-November to make decisions regarding the need for security at events in the spring. For now, however, Wofford students will be able to hear “Wofford I.D., please” from their peers, classmates, and friends.