The sixth floor occupiers of the James Administration Building have left after a week-long “party.” It was a raucous affair involving balloons, cake, and pumping music, with shivering security guards playing the role of bouncers. And now that it’s over, I believe the time is right to call for a decent “after-party.”

I am not calling for another occupation. As is true of all back-to-back parties, another occupation now would soon become tiresome; we would probably end up letting the issues pass out before we’ve actually had a chance to deal with them. Instead, like all good after-parties, this needs to be a much more mellow, reflective affair, something that has to happen in a very different setting. 

This setting must be one of slow, deliberative talk, where people listen, and wait their turn to speak. Once their turn, they should be willing to compromise. In short, an attitude of tolerance rather than one of dogma is needed. We should keep in step with the rules of after-party civility by avoiding just scolding the partiers for being “inappropriate” or “childish.” For what would that achieve? And when has a truly successful protest ever been “appropriate” anyway? Neither should we howl at the administration as though they were the party-pooping neighbours who churlishly called in the cops. For was it not the same people who let the “partiers” have their venue for a whopping 118 hours? 

These chats need to be creative, not destructive. That’s why I’m for an after-party to help us grasp at some pan-student coherence.