City’s “unrealistic expectations” cause Rollins to look elsewhere for Fox Day.
For the last 55 years, Fox Day has been a sacred tradition at Rollins. On recent Fox Days, much of the student body has congregated at Cocoa Beach for an incomparable day of bonding and fun in the sun.
However, students this year will not continue this age-old tradition at the usual beach destination.
A.J. Hutson, assistant manager of the City of Cocoa Beach, stated that “the problems we had this year were significantly worse than in prior years. A number of attendees were intoxicated well beyond their ability to care for themselves and had to be removed from the beach.”
Last year, three students were treated for acute intoxication by paramedics, one student was sent to the emergency room, and three others were treated for concussions, lacerations and head injuries.
After last year’s Fox Day, Cocoa Beach placed many, in the words of the Student Government Association (SGA), “unrealistic expectations” on Rollins if students wished to continue to celebrate Fox Day there. The expectations, Hutson stated, include making Cocoa Beach aware of the day of the event at least 60 days prior to the day, paying fees for a special event, providing a certificate of insurance naming the City of Cocoa Beach as insured, paying in advance for the police and paramedics needed for the event, providing adult supervision for the event (faculty and staff members), and ensuring that the attendees apply to local ordinances.
Hutson understood the concept behind Fox Day, but maintained that Cocoa Beach could no longer manage hosting the celebration without assistance from Rollins.
“We know college kids want to let loose once in a while and we were all young at one time,” Hutson said. “However, Fox Day is increasingly difficult to manage without help from Rollins College. Importantly, making accommodations for Fox Day creates a substantial liability for the City of Cocoa Beach.”
SGA understands that it would be “impossible” for Rollins to comply with these requirements. SGA Vice President Laura Berk ’12 stated in regard to Cocoa Beach’s requirements that “there were a lot of rules that we would have to adhere to and permits that would totally ruin the spirit of Fox Day.”
Upset about the news of the broken tradition, Cia Green ’12 stated, “I think that’s kind of ridiculous if you think about it. We’re all 18, we’re responsible for our actions. There are hundreds of people doing inappropriate things and not getting kicked off [Cocoa Beach].”
Kaitlin Reynolds ’11, on the other hand, was not shocked by the decision. “I’m not exactly surprised, because even though you aren’t allowed to bring stuff , people usually get drunk. I’ve heard rumors that people want to just have it here, but people are underage.”
Amanda Wittebort ’13 felt that Rollins was losing part of what makes it special. “The best part about Fox Day is that everyone does the same thing; as far as I have heard, everyone does not want to go to the same place. Fox Day is going to lose its tradition.”
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