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[quote=Anonymous]Dear Landon Parents:

I am writing to you at this time to describe the details of a disturbing event that occurred at Landon this past weekend. On Saturday night (4/10), Landon hosted a dance on campus. The event, called the Landon Mixer, was organized and sponsored by our Multicultural Student Alliance (MSA).

Unfortunately, this event was marred by some incidents. Several parents have inquired about what took place. We understand and appreciate that concern, and this message is to inform you of what actually occurred. We wanted to wait until I could sort out the facts before sending this along and we appreciate your patience.

The dance, scheduled to run from 7:00 to 11:00p.m., was closed at 10:00p.m. At around 9:30p.m., an ambulance was called to campus to care for and transport a student who was determined to be intoxicated. Shortly thereafter, a second ambulance was called for another student who was also intoxicated. This occurred just prior to 10 p.m. At that point, the dance was closed at the suggestion of the police officers that Landon had employed to provide security at the event. Parents of a third student were called to pick up their son who was also believed to be intoxicated. None of the students in question was a Landon student.

At 10:00 p.m., all students were asked to exit the gym, which they did without incident. For the next hour, many students were picked up by parents, while others drove themselves off campus. Having been alerted to the event by the ambulance calls, Montgomery County Police officers were on hand to administer Breathalyzer tests to student drivers prior to allowing them to exit the campus. This process resulted in a long back up of cars on campus. By 11:15p.m., campus was clear and all but a very small number of students had left. It is our understanding that the Police cited no drivers.

We want to apologize to our parents and students for the issues surrounding this event and, in particular, for not communicating the details of the event in advance. The MSA has sponsored dances in past years, and they have been notable for their low attendance. So much so, that there have been occasions on which the event has been cancelled. The extremely large student turnout to Saturday’s event took us by surprise and we regret that.

In hindsight, the scope of the invitation should have been limited. Too many students arrived at the dance expecting to attend. While those who gained admittance to the dance, were limited and adequately supervised, hundreds more were turned away. Undoubtedly, the forces of social networking and text messaging were at play Saturday night, resulting in a very widely publicized and surprisingly over-subscribed event. Also invitations were not restricted to a select number of schools, but were extended without limit. While this has been the practice for previous MSA sponsored dances, this is not an approach that we will sanction in the future.

Also, we want to apologize for the inappropriateness of some of the messaging that accompanied the communication and materials that promoted the event.

In light of the troubling aspects of what occurred on Saturday night, it is important to mention that the overwhelming majority of the students in attendance conducted themselves in very positive manner, behaving and socializing in appropriate ways. We trust that most of them enjoyed themselves and their time with friends.

We have learned a lot from this event, and will continue to review the manner in which we handle such events. There are important lessons to be taken for us, our peer schools, and for our students, as well.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this event and answer any questions or concerns you might have. Please feel free to contact me directly or reach out to Neil Phillips, Head of the Upper School.

With best regards

David M. Armstrong

CC. Neil Phillips
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