A new organization, the Gatekeepers, is looking to offer social opportunities to underclassmen and students searching for alternative night-life options. On Jan. 25, the group held the first event of their 13th Hour Series, an alternative nightlife initiative on campus that is primarily student-led with backing from Colgate University’s Office of Student Involvement (OSI) and Dean of Students Dorsey Spencer. Hosted in the O’Connor Campus Center (the Coop) TV room beginning at 10 p.m., the event featured a live DJ and open social space.
Junior Maxwell Walker, a member of the Gatekeepers and an organizer of the 13th Hour Series, hoped the initiative would fill a niche for students looking for non-academic opportunities to socialize, but who may not be affiliated with Greek life or other groups with consistent nightlife options. That niche, partially filled in prior years by the Old Stone Jug in Hamilton, has been left open since the Jug’s closing in 2023.
“We’re really trying to target underclassmen who want to have fun things to do but might not have places that they can go as easily,” Walker said.
The effort evolved from a similar series of events called Fridays@Donnie’s, which featured live DJs weekly at Donovan’s Pub from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. According to senior Olivia Saman, member of the Gatekeepers and former organizer of Fridays@Donnie’s, the logistics of operating a student-run club out of the pub were not ideal, forcing her and other organizers to return to the drawing board. At first, the plan was simply to improve the existing initiative, but it soon became apparent that an entirely new concept was needed.
“That’s why we initially got together — because we were seeing how we could better the Fridays@Donnie’s event. Then, after two meetings, we came to the conclusion that Donnie’s was not the place for a DJ-rave thing to be going on,” Saman said.
While Fridays@Donnie’s was operated explicitly through the University, the 13th Hour Series seeks to be less institutionally supervised. Though it was first organized by Spencer, the Gatekeepers sought to rebrand it as separate from the Colgate administration.
“When [Spencer] got us all together, it was about trying to figure out how much the administration was getting involved and how much the student body was getting involved, and I feel like a lot of the ideas from the administration and student body were not meshing that much. After a while, I think the administration realized that they should give us a little more leeway,” Saman said.
Spencer spoke on the University’s connection to the group.
“The University is simply providing logistical support and funding. The students handle everything else,” Spencer said. “We really want to empower the students who are willing to take the lead on these initiatives.”
According to Walker, the reinvention also stemmed from a feeling among students that Fridays@Donnie’s were not entirely organic or student-led.
“We saw that Fridays@Donnie’s wasn’t working, and it felt like it wasn’t working because it felt really school-sponsored. We want to use the same resources and the same organizing principle, but our real focus is to make the 13th Hour Series by students, for students,” Walker said.
Spencer elaborated on the mission of the Gatekeepers at Colgate.
“Students believe there is a lack of student nightlife, particularly opportunities to party. The Gatekeepers are a group that is trying to change that.” Spencer said.
Junior Luke Lostumbo spoke about the importance of alternative nightlife programming on campus for students.
“I feel that nighttime programming is incredibly important. As someone who is unaffiliated, I think it’s incredibly valuable to have an opportunity to go out without the pressure of joining a frat,” Lostumbo said.
The idea to reinvent Fridays@Donnie’s for a space more conducive to social events came in part from Saman’s experience DJing one Friday at the Coop, where she noticed that the Coop TV room might accommodate a DJ booth, a buffet and social space much more easily than Donovan’s Pub.
But even with the adjustments to the Fridays@Donnie’s model, the Gatekeepers felt that the first event in the 13th Hour Series was not entirely successful, in part because of a perceived association with the administration and a lack of enthusiasm on the part of their target audience. Turnout was relatively low.
“When I was initially telling people about it, they were like, ‘Wow, it would be so great to have this.’ But when we made the posters [for the event] and handed them out, I handed one to someone who was like, ‘I can’t be seen carrying this,’” Walker said. “Part of why I think this initial event was less successful was because it didn’t feel student-initiated. I think the more that we take our own initiative with it, the more fun it will feel.”
Looking to the future, Saman, Walker and the Gatekeepers hope to establish something different than a school-sponsored dance or event. Ideally, it would be weekly or biweekly and a “floating” initiative, relocating each time to a new space on campus. Ultimately, the Gatekeepers hope that the 13th Hour will offer a third space — not academic or affiliated with a Greek life — where students can experience the Colgate social scene, at the very least as a supplement to existing opportunities.
“Even if it’s not the only place you go in a night, maybe it’s a place that you feel is fun and has good music,” Walker said.
The Gatekeepers can be found on their Instagram page, @gatekeepers13.
