As of Wednesday morning, guest wristbands for Dillo Day have been suspended. However, beginning this Friday at 7 a.m., students may add up to one guest to a wait list and pick up the wristband on a first-come first-serve basis at the entrance to Norris. Northwestern students must come to Norris in person, with a photo ID of their guest prepared.
"We cannot guarantee we can make more guest wristbands available without jeopardizing Northwestern student attendance and student safety, said Victoria Zuzelo, Mayfest director of university relations.
Due to the construction on North Campus, the Allen Center entrance for Dillo Day will be closed. Because one more entrance/exit will be closed, the Northwestern University Police Department restricted the overall amount of people allowed to enter the Lakefill on Dillo Day, in case of emergency.
"The Northwestern Administration and Northwestern University Police Department set the mandates for attendance, and the number one goal is student safety," Zuzelo said. "We are not trying to purposefully upset Northwestern students."
According to Mayfest, a survey was conducted last school year of over 1,000 students to gauge how many guests would potentially be invited to Dillo Day. With three days left of distribution, the amount of guest wristbands has far exceeded what the survey expected. Mayfest reported that Tuesday distribution saw more students picking up guest wristbands than all previous days of distribution combined.
"Where we have capped guest wristbands, this guarantees that all of the Northwestern student body has the option and ability to go to Dillo Day should they choose to," said Mayfest Co-Chair Xander Shepard.
Since Mayfest is funded by the Student Activities Fund, they are required to make sure that Northwestern students are the priority in terms of Dillo Day access. SAF has similar requirements for all of their funded groups. As of Wednesday night, over 75% of Northwestern students have registered with Mayfest, while over 50% of students have already picked up their wristbands.
Wristbands for Evanston residents, Northwestern staff and Northwestern faculty, which are all in one individual pool separate from Northwestern students and guests, will be cut off beginning tomorrow. Mayfest reports that the amount of wristbands available to Northwestern students was significantly more, regardless of the interest from NU staff and townies.
"The notion that we're catering to Evanston residents or Evanston Township High School is false," said Mayfest Promotions Co-Chair Ian Robinson.
In response to students reselling their wristbands, Mayfest encourages students who already picked up wristbands, but are not expecting their guest to come, to return the wristband to Mayfest for re-distribution.
"The wristbands are ultimately tied to your name and can be traced back to you, so you're taking a giant risk by selling them to random students," said Zuzelo.
"By returning wristbands to be reapplied to the wait list, you would directly improve the state of the Northwestern community," said Shepard.
Dillo Day is this Saturday and features 2 Chainz, OK Go, Chance the Rapper and several Chicago-based acts on the IndieU Stage sponsored by WNUR.
Updated, May 29, 4:50 p.m.: Wristband distribution for Northwestern University faculty and staff and Evanston residents has been permanently suspended. The amount of wristbands available to non-students was 20 times smaller than what had been alotted for NU students and their guests, according to Mayfest.
Guest wristband distribution is also suspended, but Mayfest has instituted a wait list beginning on Friday, May 30 at 7 a.m. at Norris University Center. After 8:30 AM, no more students will be able to get in line to register their guests for the wait list. Students will be able to add their guests to the wait list on a first come, first served basis. Northwestern undergraduate students will be able to add only one guest if they have not already picked up a guest wristband.