It's Wednesday, March 12, and this is the nineteen o nine, the state news's weekly podcast featuring our reporters talking about the news. I'm your host, Alex Walters. This week, we're talking about parties. I'll set the scene. The funnel, the drops of beer, the boisterous men encouraging it all, a congregation of fresh adults breathing their first breath of freedom.
Alex:It requires no order. There's much of an art to these parties as there is to a Coors Light. This is and has been the college party. That description of the quintessential house party comes from a recent column by my colleague Jack Williams who joins us today. He argues that frat parties in Grand River's many bars should take a back seat to an alternative scene found in MSU's housing cooperatives.
Alex:For his column, he interviewed some of the minds behind these parties and attended a few himself. Jack, welcome to the show.
Jack:Thank you, Alex. Did you have fun on
Alex:this assignment? Going to parties, talking to party people.
Jack:I had a lot of fun. It's not every day you can, that it's not every day an assignment is going to parties and talking to people and just writing about it. So I was really I was happy to do that. Yeah.
Alex:Well, tell me more about the parties that you're not necessarily writing about about, you know, this kind of, like, quintessential image when people think of a college party at a big 10 Midwestern school like Michigan State. You talk about frat parties, house parties, the bars, kind of the party culture that you think is maybe synonymous with, like, a party school, but not necessarily what you are writing about?
Jack:Well, I think the college party that we think of, that we kinda see in the media, and that I think adults think about when they're kinda out of college and, out of touch, so to speak, is the has kind of become this image, that we associate with the frat party, you know, which is, no longer just like a party that's hosted by people in a fraternity. It's now this thing, there's kind of like these images we think of. There's an essentiality of, like, a certain type of man, a certain type of person who attends these parties. And You remember the same songs being played on the film? Yeah.
Jack:The same songs are like, like the top 40, I think, as well. One of my sources described it. But what I'm kinda talking about here is this sort of alternative method, this alternative place that people make, because I think these these frat parties we tend to think of, a big part of it is, yes, it's like the beer, you know, it's the loud music and stuff. But it's also kind of the, rejection of certain types of people. Mhmm.
Jack:There's sort of a cultural hegemony to these parties, that we tend not to always think about. I mean, there's, like, these unspoken rules of, like, ratios and, like, who can be in these parties and who can't. And so what I kinda argue is that, you know, whenever you have a case like that, whenever you have a space like that, the people who are rejected are always just gonna they're gonna find their own space no matter what. And that's kinda what I'm writing about here. Not that there's parties,
Alex:like, people excluded from kind of, like, this mainstream frat party culture, they formed their own scene.
Jack:In a sense, yeah. I don't think it came out of that necessarily, but it is a space where the the primary goal is to be yourself. It's to express yourself, regardless of whether you fall into this kind of social group or that social group. You it's just a space where people can can be who they are, and that's kind of the goal for these parties. And tell
Alex:me about you say that a lot of this stems out of these housing cooperatives. Not even just from, like, a party perspective, but just broadly. What is, you know, people call them co ops. What's the difference between a co op and, like, a frat, or just like a regular
Jack:living situation? So, so a housing cooperative, at its core, it's just, it's meant to be affordable living. It's just a bunch of people who come together, and they're like, Hey, we need an affordable place to live, so we're all going to just kind of pool our money into this house, and we're all going to have jobs, and maintaining the house, and making sure we all kinda have this common moral moral goal. You know? Because you
Alex:have to if you live in a co op, you kinda have to work. Right? Like, you have to cook or clean, like, you have to decide tasks.
Jack:And yeah. And that that's kind of the idea. It's it's at its core, it's affordable housing, and that's kind of what everyone was telling me. It's it you know, I think when we think of frats, we often a big thing we think of is kind of the the the price that can come along with living in a frat. There's a lot of do yeah.
Jack:There's dues. You have to pay these, like, national organizations. Co ops are are dissimilar in the sense that, they're they're not national cooperations. It's usually just kinda like Mhmm. Local things.
Jack:There is a Spartan Housing cooperation or a co op, which is, it's more like a committee of the houses in the area. But, I mean, there's not I mean, you can find houses out in Okemos that don't even have MSU students. So it's not it's by no means a college thing.
Alex:And how are how are the I mean, I guess different ones probably throw parties differently. Mhmm. But, like, in general, to tell me about you've gone to these co op parties for this column, and probably just recreationally too.
Jack:Yeah.
Alex:Tell me about a co op party. How is it different?
Jack:So, I think the main thing that's different, is the goal at these cooperative parties is, primarily artistic. Mhmm. You know, you go there, there's there's live music. Right? There's, and it's it's students usually.
Jack:It's people making music in front of you, whether it's, techno music, whether it's rock, punk, whatever. You have local local musicians making making art. People are expressing them artistically through clothing. And, yeah, I think that's pretty much that's the main difference that you don't get at a lot of other college parties is, the such a focus on art and kind of going to, like, both of these college parties, or having been to a sort of fratty party, and, you know, these, like, co op parties, I've kind of started to think, like, it's made me question what the goal of a party should be. Right?
Alex:Because you write in your column that, like, you feel like there's kind of, like, a beneath the surface of a frat party Mhmm. All this stuff, protecting the ratio, getting people as drunk as possible. Yeah. I mean, this is, like, kind of a means to sex, right, for, like, men that are throwing these parties. Whereas, you write about co op parties, you think, like you said, there's, like, maybe, like, a broader goal than just sex with, like, kind of the artistic side.
Jack:Yeah. Exactly. I think that's it. And obviously, with the with the frat stuff that, you know, you see on the news where, that can lead, you know, people get hurt, people I think that's also where kind of, like, the the hazing stuff where that stems from. It's kind of the same goal, and I think at co op parties, you just don't get that because that's not the goal.
Jack:The goal is to express yourself artistically, to enjoy art, you know, if you're not expressing yourself to to be there and just, like, see it. Well, they
Alex:seem to take this really seriously. Like, you you talk to these people in your column who, like, whether it's, like, the music or the actual environment for the party. I don't know how, thoughtful the planners, like, the average house party are, but these people are are, like, they take it so seriously, the work of throwing this party. Tell me about some of the people you talk to who, you know, have this, like, mission for creating the perfect co op party.
Jack:Well, so yeah. So I talked to a few people. The people who organize them, yeah, they are very, I mean, I think the people I talked to were, like, in the Spartan Housing Cooperative, so they're, they deal with a lot of the administrative stuff in the area for the co ops. But kind of what they talked about was there there's a lot that goes into it. There's a lot that goes into I mean, you gotta pick, like, a theme, you gotta find the bands, you gotta do all these other things.
Jack:You have to set up the house to make sure because, I mean, they're they're big houses. Right? And obviously, you're letting a bunch of people, a lot of whom, like, you might not even know, into your house. You don't want people going everywhere. You gotta kinda lay out the house in a way where people can still kinda have fun, but they're not going in, like, people's rooms, or they're not going in rooms you don't want them to, you know, and, like, if you have expensive stuff out, you don't want people, like, breaking your expensive things.
Jack:So there is a lot that goes into it. I think one of the people I talked to talked about how a lot of these parties are are playing, like, months in advance. So they already kinda know, like, going into it, like, what's going on, who's gonna, you know, what the theme's gonna be.
Alex:And the themes are not, like, the themes I feel like you see with, like, a regular house party. These themes are very specific, and people take them so seriously. People really get into that.
Jack:People get really, the one I went to or the one I wrote primarily about, I think the theme was cute punk. Cute punk. Cute punk. Which I thought Does
Alex:cute punk differ from punk?
Jack:I had no clue. But, I think everyone I think no matter what the theme is, people are gonna show up and they're gonna be killing it, which is was kinda what blew me away. It's kinda nice. It's almost like it exists in its own in its own world of, like, these people who have kinda all come together and decided to, like, hey, for night, we're all just gonna, like, do this. We're all gonna put on put on these clothes, listen to this type of music, and we're gonna act this way just for, like, a few hours in in this this these people's basement.
Alex:You know? Tell me more about the music too. Because, I mean, this the amount of, like, live music and the coordination of that is really impressive. And you talked to, I think, kind of a group that I I I don't know how to describe them. They're like, some sort of, like, organization that arranges or like an agent.
Alex:How how does this work?
Jack:Yeah. So, the I talked to three guys, and they formed this this booking company called The Cadre, which, their mission was to just kinda bring, sort of the the the techno scene to to East Lansing, to MSU. So what they do is they, often co they'll work with co ops, and they'll they'll come in, and they'll they'll find artists, and they'll set up, and they'll just kinda organize these parties. Usually, the theme is picked by the co op, though. And the one of the people I talked to, one of the people, Zach, who was like running this organization, as he said, his primary mission was to make sure it was inclusive.
Jack:Mhmm. Because I think what they they they saw, sort of like the frat party, and they saw how it can often have had the potential to be not inclusive. And so, when he made this, he was like, I I just want it I want everyone to be able to enjoy the art. So really, the only the only requirement to get into these parties is, you just gotta be like a safe person. You know?
Jack:Mhmm. I mean, they're not gonna be denying anyone based on, like, I don't know. Like, we don't like we don't like how you look, or you're not this gender, you don't fit into this social thing, you know. If as long as you're just, like, a safe person, you're gonna get let in.
Alex:And this this the cadre, they like, a co op reaches out to them, and then they connect them with different artists who, like, want to perform at these parties.
Jack:I don't know exactly how that works. I assume it's a little bit of both. Maybe co ops reaching out, and maybe the or the cadre reaching out to people, because, I mean, they gotta find the venues for certain things. But, and then they also it's not strictly in co ops, the cadre. I like, I think they had they do stuff, like, sorta around the Greater Lansing area.
Jack:And the whole the whole booking company thing is not it's by no means, like, a new idea. Yeah. There there's plenty of booking companies around Lansing, like Detroit and stuff, but, I think they're they were probably one of the first to do it or one of the most prominent to do it. Right now, I think there is another one called knife fight knife fight booking, but the cadre, I think, is the primary one that I had been seeing.
Alex:Yeah. Is this the co op party?
Jack:Do you feel like this
Alex:is like an enclave that it is what it is and will, like, stay this kind of, like, protective, kind of, area for people who want to, like, party in a way that's not so exclusive like the frat parties? Or is this growing? Is this a bigger part of college culture where, like, you know, eventually, we'll get to a place where, like, this is sort of the mainstream culture?
Jack:I think it'd be nice to see, a world where it's part of the mainstream culture, but I think part of the way part of having a mainstream culture is having sort of offshoots, you know? Having spaces like this where not everyone knows about. And I I don't I don't know I don't wanna make the statement that this has grown or that this is by any means new. I mean, like, these co ops have been around Yeah. Since, like, the nineteen hundreds.
Jack:They were doing the same thing back then, and they're doing it now. I'm sure this it's always been the same amount of people. But like I said, I like, they don't they're not concerned with who's there, or they're not concerned with not letting people in, you know? So I think if you consider yourself as part of this, like, mainstream culture, and you wanna get in on this, I don't this this this isn't a community that's gonna have any objection to that. You know what I'm saying?
Jack:Yeah. They they want people to show up. They want people to, like, express themselves as long as you're not being, like, hateful or not a safe person. They they want more people. They want to see people.
Jack:They want to interact with people, just like everyone does, you know. Everyone wants to interact with people. Everyone wants to express themselves in some way.
Alex:Well, it sounds like interested listeners in the nineteen oh nine should go try one of these out for themselves. But first, they should read the entirety of your column, which is very well written and includes all sorts of stuff about different parties and different people kind of in this, like, atmosphere of the coop parties. And, yeah, well, that's all for now. Thank you, Jack, for coming on the show. We'll be back next week with fresh reporting from the grapevines here at the State News.
Alex:And you can find his column at statenews.com. Thank you also to our podcast coordinator,