The Brent Road party is an annual back-to-school event that has drawn upward of 5,000 people in recent years. Last year the party was patrolled by almost 500 policemen after the Raleigh City Council passed a nuisance ordinance allowing police to enter a private party because it has been deemed a nuisance and make arrests.
Only 3,000 attended the party last year after the ordinance was passed and police presence increased. Seven thousand people attended in 1999.
Tom Stafford, N.C. State vice chancellor for student affairs, said police presence will be strong again this year. "The Raleigh police plan to have a massive turnout," Stafford said. "(The university) has made an effort to get the information out to make sure students know that if they get arrested or cited, they will be subject to the students code of conduct."
As an alternative, N.C. State administrators have organized the Crossroads party to lure crowds away from the more chaotic Brent Road party. Both parties will take place Saturday night.
The Crossroads party, which took $110,000 from administrative coffers and student funds, will boast popular bands De La Soul, Far Too Jones and Naughty by Nature.
But some students are dissatisfied with the breaking down of tradition and have taken to the Internet to voice their frustrations.
The Wolf Web, an student-operated Web site featuring everything from news to personal photo galleries, conducted a poll regarding the Brent Road party. Forty percent of respondents said they would be at the party "in full effect!"
The Raleigh Police Department declined to comment.
Unlike last year, N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox did not send a letter about the Brent Road party to parents, though information regarding it was included in a parents' newsletter.
