Sai Kulkarni ‘23
Culture Editor
Recently, it has come to my attention that this esteemed newspaper has started to garner criticism with our writing choices. Some say that this has become a form of media even worse than grocery store tabloids: a personal blog. I have heard some critiques from many people in the last two weeks that our fearless leader Phil and I have made this newspaper about our personal lives, partying, and content unappealing to the general public. To those critics I say . . . you are correct. That’s right, I agree with you. I think the two of us write about ourselves every week. And to that, my only response is, at least we aren’t turning this into some sort of Gossip Girl-style toe-rag that insults people.[1] As a newspaper, the Law Weekly exists to both issue commentary and make you laugh. I enjoy writing about the partying culture at the law school; it’s my actual title.[2] So if you read through all of that and decided to keep going, then clearly you want to hear about the kickoff to Feb Club.
Having never experienced the original event, my only experience leading up to Feb Club was the Summer Series this past June. Suffice it to say, I had a ton of fun then. I even wrote an entire article about it last semester. So, despite not knowing what Feb Club was actually supposed to look like, I was psyched for the series of events. I think in these times, we have to party as hard as we can. We have anywhere between 2.5 to merely 0.5 years left to enjoy ourselves and be young before either BigLaw or public interest work drains whatever remains of our souls, leaving mere husks working in the legal field. Therefore, it is simply “go big or go home.”
The hosts of the first party[3] clearly took that phrase to heart. Feb Club is meant to be a series of parties that have their own themes. The men of the Thomson House chose their theme to be “drinking.” While some may declare the theme lazy, I choose instead to label it appropriate. Simple and to the point. For a group that hosts people more often than the average house in law school, they really know how to prepare for a large amount of patrons. Over the course of the night, there were likely over a hundred people walking through those doors, coming in waves from their own pre-games. With multiple boxes of . . . medium quality libations, everyone seemed to be provided for.
In my humble opinion, the party was exactly what everyone needed to set the tone for the upcoming month. There were people from all three classes mixing and mingling and actually talking to one another.[4] There were no expectations of dressing up, only *gasp* socializing. The freezing[5] temperature did not seem to dissuade people from spreading out and occupying the large deck and all areas of the house. The music was prime 2018 fraternity basement vibes—the exact energy needed for such a party. Much like most college parties, everyone came and went in waves. While I have no idea what time everyone finally called it a night, I can safely say that it was exactly what we all needed. Having already experienced one themed party, there is no doubt that this month will be full of good vibes and interesting ideas. But this simple house party was a perfect launch for Feb Club. At the end of the day, this month is intended to bring us all together and connect disparate student groups. I cannot imagine a more equalizing experience than simply partying together like we are back in college. Hopefully everyone had a good time and will continue to do so in the month going forward.
Anne Reyna ‘23
Staff Writer
If you weren’t at Lambda’s Euphoria party, you might have been the only one. This party had everything you could’ve wanted, with colorful lighting, loud music, a taco bar, and a wicked hangover in the morning. Like every good journalist, I took it upon myself to make this a night to remember by literally going around and getting quotes on the record from my ~totally in the right state of mind~ peers. Interestingly enough, some of my peers elected to only talk off the record or had no comment, for which I applaud them because they are already better attorneys than those individuals who did agree to speak with me. With that being said, I do have to disclaim that the views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the official policy or position of The Law Weekly. With all the legal talk out of the way, let’s dive right into all the pressing questions you guys want answered, like “how do I get this glitter off my face?” or “do I have a black eye or is this just purple eyeshadow?” Hopefully I can answer all of these questions and more.
Now, while the theme of the party was the popular HBO show Euphoria, after talking to a number of people, it’s safe to say only about 10% of the partygoers had actually seen the iconic show. Being The Law Weekly’s unofficial pop culture correspondent and an available-for-hire ‘new age’ media expert witness,[6] I was not thrilled to discover this. Euphoria is an expansive and immersive cinematic experience that is often a comfort show for many people. This is because they are able to sit down after watching an episode and think “well, at least this isn’t my life,” and this makes people[7] feel a little bit better about their own lives. With that being said, most people did have some idea of what the show looked like or was about from Twitter or TikTok, so as a huge fan of the show, the Lambda party was a huge success in my eyes and very on theme. I felt as though I had been transported to Euphoria, U.S.A. and I was indeed feeling euphoric.
While most of the esteemed women at this party understood the assignment and came dressed to the nines, some of the men were clearly struggling with the theme and looked like they were auditioning for Oklahoma.[8] Regular reader and even more regular contributor Jon Peterson ’23 was thrilled to be at the party despite his outfit being inspired by a single Google search. “I got to see all my friends, I got to push through a bunch of 1Ls that I don’t know, and I got pushed around by some of them too,” claimed Jon.
I really couldn’t have said it better myself, Jon, there was a great mix of classes there, ranging from the class of 2024 all the way to the class of 2022. It really was a party for all ages: even known older and wiser 3Ls Stanley Birch and Phil Tonseth made their way out on Saturday and were, and I quote, “vibing.” And they weren’t the only ones. Many people I spoke to that night commented that the “vibes were immaculate” or that the party “[was] a whole vibe.” It’s really great how nights like this bring some of the brightest legal minds of our generation all together by reducing our vocabulary to only a few singular phrases.
I believe veteran 3L Ian Clemens summarized it well: “Feb Club represents the best of UVA, the entire point is to [have as much fun] as you can, and those who organize this for us have made sure that’s possible, and we should all thank them for that.” Truer words have never been spoken. So, thank you and a shoutout to Lambda and everyone who made the Euphoria party possible. Certainly everyone I spoke to was having a great night and it was one hell of an opening weekend for Feb Club. I personally cannot wait to see what the rest of the month has in store for us, and I highly encourage everyone to make it out to some of these awesome events. In closing, I’d like to leave you all with a bit of wisdom from the underrated 2007 film Hot Rod starring Andy Samberg: “Let’s party.”
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omk6cg@virginia.edu
agr5ag@virginia.edu
[1] I recently found out who Gossip Girl actually is and let me say, the showrunners were really lazy on that one. And honestly it makes no sense.
[2] Culture Editor is such a refined title that I even put it on my resume.
[3] Alex Albert, Bennett Robinson, Sam Mirzai, Sean Hickey, and Woody Nimoityn, all of the Class of 2022.
[4] I actually spoke to some 1Ls. Apparently, they are normal people. Who could have known?
[5] In this Florida Man’s opinion, everything below 40 is freezing.
[6] My fees are very reasonable, future trial attorneys.
[7] Me.
[8] Oklahoma is a popular school play being produced by the high school drama department in Euphoria; when said men were asked if they were auditioning for Oklahoma, they all maintained they were not. This claim was not investigated further.