By Pola Lem

A thread on Haverford’s Go! Boards entitled “concert on saturdayyyy” advertising a show in Lunt Basement became the site of a heated confrontation Friday.

Sam Kaplan ‘10 publicly posted an e-mail Sam Blau ‘12 and Jen Zelnick ‘12, two members of the Quaker Bouncers Board, had sent that evening confronting him and Chris Esposito ‘10, two members of the Fords United Concert Series, which books free concerts for Haverford.

Blau and Zelnick were asking Kaplan and Esposito to report themselves to Honor Council within three days for sneaking in high schoolers to shows, charging admission to non-tri-co students, lying to the community about the Girl Talk show and failing to convey to bands that the shows are not open to the general community. Later that night, Kaplan posted a follow-up e-mail Zelnick sent him saying she was upset that he had broken their confidentiality.

Tensions quickly escalated on the Go! Boards, and it was unclear what the consequences would be. However, Esposito met with Blau and Zelnick on Sunday, and Esposito said that the issue is now resolved, and that Blau and Zelnick took back their charges because they realized they had misunderstood the situation. Esposito also spoke by phone with Franklyn Cantor ‘12, Students’ Council Vice President.

Blau and Zelnick refused to comment on the issue itself or even whether it had been resolved, saying that it was a private matter that should never have been publicized.

Esposito said that FUCS has not been allowing in high schoolers who are not guests since September, when Students’ Council enacted a policy to only allow tri-co students and their guests (up to three). When Students’ Council decided several weeks later that FUCS should not charge the typical $5 for off-campus concert-goers, they followed that policy as well. Perhaps some have simply assumed that people they do not recognize are high schoolers, Esposito said, because in previous years they would flock to Lunt shows

“FUCS has never lied to the community. What would be our motivation for lying?” asked Esposito, noting that FUCS is not a business. "We do not get money from any show."

Many students commenting on the Go! thread criticized Kaplan for publicizing a private e-mail.

“Well, apparently we don’t like the Honor Code here anymore,” posted Nicola Fiddes HC ‘12.

The Honor Code says that “it is advisable to exercise discretion and respect privacy accordingly when initiating a dialogue.”

However, there is nothing explicitly prohibiting people from publicizing their confrontation, said Inez Suhardjo ‘10, Honor Council Co-Chair, even though it “might break the spirit of the Honor Code.”

Kaplan said he made Blau and Zelnick’s e-mail public because, “I was really freaked out and shocked, and wanted to share my fears with the rest of the student body.” He said the Bouncers’ accusations “were ridiculous,” and “to some extent, there was an abuse of power happening."

"I was scared that they were gonna cut our funding or end the club or cancel the rest of our shows," Kaplan said. "All these kinds of apocalyptic scenarios."

He was surprised that Blau and Zelnick had not contacted him and Esposito in person, pointing to the Honor Code’s clause that says “if a violation […] occurs, it should be resolved via face to face confrontation.”

"It’s just funny because we’d had literal, face-to-face meetings with Jen [Zelnick] throughout the year [for JSAAPP]," he said. "We talk to Jen all the time, and she can always talk to us. So it was strange to get that e-mail without her saying anything to us in person beforehand."

He said he had not been in dialogue with Blau before, even though the e-mail said they had been.

Zelnick and Blau must have been preparing for the confrontation for some time, Kaplan said, because as of Saturday, he had already heard of students who were assembled for the Honor Council trial.

"I think it’s a cause for concern if they can send us this e-mail, credit it as a confrontation, begin assembling an Honor Council jury, all within the span of 24 hours, it seems with little critical reflection on what actually happened," Kaplan said. "To the extent that the next day Chris can meet with them and completely change their mind. Shouldn’t Honor Council be a little more certain with what they’re doing?"

He said he might have been violating the honor code in posting their e-mail; he understood if Blau and Zelnick still wanted to take him to Honor Council "because that was definitely inappropriate. But at the time, I felt like we were in a situation where the people in power were abusing the Honor Code, and I felt like by trying to follow the rules we would just get steam-rolled, because they clearly didn’t care about them."

Kaplan continued, "It just made me so mad for [Zelnick] to claim that it was somehow some private issue, when she had clearly been talking to Students’ Council, Honor Council, JSAAPP and the Quaker Bouncers about it."

Students’ Council Co-President Harrison Haas ‘10 refused to comment, since they had not discussed the matter with Students’ Council. 

Kaplan said he was happy that Esposito talked to Blau and Zelnick, and that to his knowledge, Kaplan said, “the issue has been resolved.”

With additional reporting by Robin Riskin, News Editor

Related articles

• Students’ Council Sends FUCS Lunt Policy Letter
• SC, FUCS Meet
• Debating the Proper Role of FUCS at HC
• FUCS Show Extended Caption
• New GO Board Policy Creates Concrete Rules of Order
• Emerson Hosts Third SC Smoking Forum
• Honor Council Chair
• StuMP Adopted
• Honor Council Candidates
• Honor Council Candidates