This year’s infamous Tear Night was a change of scene for Washington and Lee students. Greek presidents and Panhellenic Council paired with the school to improve the night’s safety.

Tear Night typically involves sororities and fraternities “tearing,” or pairing with one another before coming together for a larger event. But with monetary support from the school, this year, three bands and a DJ were hosted at Red Square, including DJ Illumination, The Southern Belles and BoomBox.

The intention of the event was to bring students together in a safe, on-campus environment.

According to Panhellenic President Margaret McClintock, discussions to reexamine the night and its safety have been ongoing. Fraternities and sororities were highly encouraged to attend the Red Square event.

“The changes have been a long time coming,” said Kappa Delta President Megan Fricke. “The sorority presidents came together early in the fall to begin planning in order to make Tear Night a safer night for all students.”

Former Kappa Delta President Carson Coffman said talks of Tear Night changes even began during her term.

“The major con discussed [regarding Tear Night] was risk management,” Coffman said. “And how to make the night safer overall for everyone involved, while still making it a fun night for everyone to celebrate the new pledge classes.”

Students had mixed reactions to the changes, especially since many upperclassmen have been used to a usual Tear Night on Windfall Hill.

“I didn’t like that everything was spaced out,” said Senior Kirby Taylor. “I live closer to windfall so it would have been in my personal best interest if the party was at windfall for convenience.”

Junior Andrew Franz agreed.

“I thought tear night was really fun before the changes,” Franz said. “But with the changes I didn’t really notice much of a difference in the night, other than faculty being around that isn’t usually at around at parties.”

Others enjoyed the different scene for the night.

“I think it was really fun having the two bands on campus,” said McClintock. “I thought it was a great way to bring community together.”