On Friday, Jan. 23, a fish-themed party in North Village D advertised as “Fish Bash” resulted in damage to the building’s structural beams. Images surfaced of a ceiling crack in the apartment below.
Student hosts Kevin Amon ‘26, Luke Anderson ‘26 and Stefan Yazijian ‘27 sent out a poster with the date, time, and location of the party via email on Jan. 19.
“There were 130 [people] in the original email,” Amon said. “Then we kept forwarding it.” Anderson noted that they also invited classmates and acquaintances.
The hosts added that the party was complete with a sardine-eating contest, an oceanic curated playlist, and even fish tacos. “[Our friends] asked if they could cook fish tacos, and we were like, duh-duh-duh-doy,” said Amon.
In the week following the party, residents of D saw a rental dumpster filled with debris appear outside the complex; Furman facilities staff were repairing the damage. The student hosts confirmed that the damage had been caused by the number of people present at the party.
No estimated cost of the damage was determined.
Yazijian said that while the boys didn’t know the full extent of the damage, they observed that their floor had sunk. “We didn’t really notice it that night, but the next day I could completely tell it was damaged,” Yazijian noted. The boys added that the center of the room’s floor had especially dipped.
“All on-campus housing units occupied by students are assessed and determined to be safe by the leadership team in the university’s facilities area,” said Ron Thompson, Director of Housing and Residence Life, remarking that maintenance adheres to industry standards.
“As part of our ongoing commitment to student safety and community standards, capacity limits for student housing units will be formally incorporated into this summer’s revisions to the Student Handbook,” Thompson said. He did not provide a specific number for unit capacity.
Yazijian said, “We’re glad there were no injuries. That’s a good takeaway. Nothing bad happened. All we wanted to do was dance and let other people have that opportunity as well.”
“Sometimes you just have to let the fish out,” said Amon.
