Bryn Mawr students taken to task for ‘Hell Week’

At Bryn Mawr College, Hell Week is "a week of fun and bonding between freshwomen and upperclasswomen," according to the school's website.

So when Michele Rasmussen, dean of the school's undergraduate college, discovered that students of the Radnor dorm were forced to participate in such unthinkable acts as swearing alliance to a keg and being made to "listen to the Radnor goddess speech," during Hell Week, she was having none of it.

She obviously didn't know that the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.

According to an email from the dean, posted on Gawker Thursday with scathing commentary, such unthinkable activities have resulted in every upperclassman in the dorm being required to write a letter of apology to every freshman Radnor resident.

The website for the school of 1,200 in Lower Merion says that there are only 74 residents of the Radnor dorm, but the tone of the email makes it sounds like it was the sister sorority to Animal House's Delta Tau Chi.

The email includes allegations that upperclasswomen threw toilet paper and cardboard into an audience of freshman (!), shouted at their younger peers "without and without bullhorn (!!)" and that they created the "potential for injury by playing wiffle beer", which is baseball with a wiffle ball bat and beer cans (!!!).

Aside from having to write letters of apology to the freshman, the dorm is also allowed no more "wet parties" for the rest of the year and the three women who the school believes most responsible for the alleged infractions will have to go before a dean's panel.

Matt Gray, spokesman for Bryn Mawr, said typical Hell Week activities include asking students to dress up like a character from their favorite novel and go to class.

"While it's called Hell Week, it's anything but hellish," he said.

Gray said it was several freshman students who brought this year's activities to the attention of the dean. He said the school is well aware of the Gawker post and the student body and faculty members seem to be taking it in stride.

"I think if we're going to be the butt of jokes because we're taking care of students, I think we're OK with that," Gray said.

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