On Oct 27, the Friday of Halloween weekend, students passing through Collegetown or living on West Campus can grab some food and take some time off at “Wind Down Zones,” where tents and heaters will be set up for Cornellians on their way back from a night out.
Stations will be located next to the Schwartz Performing Arts Center and on the green between Hans Bethe House and Flora Rose House. The event is organized by the Student Assembly Health and Wellness Committee and aims to provide a space for students to take a break from the night.
“We’re hoping we can give people something to stop and do for a few minutes,” Hailey Sokoloff ’20, a committee member, told The Sun. “If they were uncomfortable at all with where their night was going they would just have a couple minutes to think about it, which they otherwise might not have had.”
Volunteers running the stations are being trained by Consent Ed on being active bystanders, but the committee doesn’t want the space to be a sexual assault education event. Instead, they want to give students the time and space to pause if needed.
“[Sexual assault] seems to get more and more relevant as we get closer to the event,” Ruwanthi Ekanayake ’20, another committee member, told The Sun. “We started off as sort of a ‘this is a good thing to address’ and then as we get closer to implementing it, things kind of come out of the woodwork and you realize how accurate it is.”
Students do not have to be worried about judicial repercussions and Cornell Police Department will not be there, according to the committee.
Food options include pizza and bananas, in an attempt to balance out the wants of intoxicated students and the Health and Wellness Committee’s commitment to healthy food choices.
“Our hope is really to have everyone be able to end their night on a good note,” Sokoloff said.
The event is co-sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Delta, Cornell’s pre-professional fraternity in health, and West Campus houses. The Cornell Health pharmacy will donate health supplies, such as hand sanitizer, makeup wipes and condoms.