Urban’s social life has changed significantly since the outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020. One aspect Urban students identified is the party scene, with many believing that the average party size has decreased dramatically. 

Having experienced Urban parties before the COVID-19 pandemic through having older siblings who attended the school, Quinn Ryan ‘22 said, “I think [parties have] gotten smaller. Freshman year, we would have parties with four grades. Now there’s a lot of junior and senior parties and there’s the same crowd every time.” 

Juniors also remember their experiences at these larger parties. “The party I went to in sophomore year with the seniors before they left was the most fun and I think [those seniors] were the most fun to party with,” said Anna Thornton ‘23. In addition to downsizing in the name of COVID-19 safety precautions, some students believe that Urban parties have become smaller due to Urban’s already judgmental atmosphere. “I think that Urban culture is very exclusive,” said Carly Goldblatt ‘23. “Going to parties of other schools, there’s a very different vibe. It’s a lot more feral and chaotic.”

A second possibility for the rise of smaller parties is the stress and responsibility of the host to clean up afterward. “I think Urban people are really disrespectful when they’re at other people’s houses … I think people get really rowdy and don’t clean up anything,” said Thornton. She believes that this leads to fewer students wanting to host large numbers of people at their house, inevitably leading to fewer and smaller parties. 

Ryan believes there may be a third reason for smaller parties involving parents. “You kinda gotta break down the rules with your parents over time,” said Ryan. “I think there was such a big gap of people going out and doing stuff during COVID so maybe parents got more strict.” 

The downsizing of parties has greatly changed the dynamic of these events, leading some Urban students to even report not enjoying Urban parties. “I really feel like a lot of people now just automatically don’t want to go to parties, like myself included, because they know it’ll probably be lame,” said Thorton. 

In addition to fears surrounding the common spread of COVID-19 at these events, a consistent lack of enjoyment has led some Urban students to question why they attend parties in the first place.“I think Urban parties aren’t necessarily there for fun,” said Julian Infield ‘23. “I usually go just because a lot of really funny [stuff] ends up happening.”