Have a good time – avoid damage, unruly guests, police, and upset neighbors. Follow these tips and be a responsible host.
- Check your lease to make sure parties are not prohibited by your lease or by your landlord. If police are called about an unruly party, Student Affairs is often notified as well.
- Set expectations for guests. Invite specific people and do not post your party on Facebook or other social media sites.
- Tell your neighbors you’re having a party. Give them a phone number to call if there’s a problem. You’ll be able to deal with it before anyone calls the police.
- Set a specific end time for your party. Tell your guests that you’ll expect them to leave at that time. Explain that if the neighbors complain about noise, you’ll have to shut the party down and ask them to leave.
- Designate sober hosts to answer the phone and door, and to deal with unruly guests.
- Limit the number of people you invite. Keep track of who is at your party. Have a guest list, have people enter and exit through one door. Put purses, backpacks, laptops, and other small valuable items in a secure location. Ask guests to be considerate of families/neighbors and not to shout or scream as they travel.
- Check IDs if you’re serving alcohol, consider having a separate room for alcohol where only those 21+ can enter. If people under 21 are drinking you can be held liable.
- Keep the noise down and keep people inside. If there are a lot of people outside, police take notice and stop. Excessive noise is often the reason your neighbors will call the police and report a party.
- Don’t let anyone drink and drive. Plan to have cab numbers available or let people stay the night.
