In a departure from tradition, tickets to Claremont McKenna College’s annual Monte Carlo party were free this year — but only available to a limited number of students per school. All 1,200 tickets were given out in the first two days of tabling, which was supposed to run until Friday.
The amount of available tickets varied by school and was based off historic student attendance, said Johnson Lin CM ’21, ASCMC junior class president and event planner. The decision is part of a larger change, as ASCMC recently announced it’s eliminating ticket charges for all school-wide events this academic year.
Under the new system for Monte Carlo, 800 tickets are available for CMC students, 150 for Scripps College students, 100 for Pomona College students, 80 for Pitzer College students, 25 for Harvey Mudd College students and 45 for CMC students’ guests, according to ASCMC’s live ticket counter.
All Scripps, Pomona, Pitzer and Harvey Mudd tickets had already run out as of Tuesday afternoon — the first day tickets began being distributed, according to the tracker. All CMC student and guest tickets were given out by Wednesday evening.
Despite the restricted number of tickets, Lin said more students from each school will be allowed to attend this year than attended in previous years. About 200 more tickets were issued this year than were sold last year, he said.
Student governments across the 5Cs helped fund Monte Carlo, though contributions differed from $7.50 per ticket from Pitzer Student Senate to $10 per ticket from ASHMC. In the past, tickets to the formal event had sold for $15 or more.
The different price per ticket for the schools stemmed from a pair of circumstances, according to Lin. ASCMC asked ASHMC for a total of $250 for its tickets, raising its price per ticket slightly, and Pitzer Student Senate asked for five additional tickets, on top of what it was originally allocated.
ASCMC has a total budget of approximately $18,500 for the event without the contributions from other schools, according to Lin. The school will receive $2,850 in supplemental funding from the other student governments — $1,200 from SAS, $800 from ASPC, $600 from Pitzer Student Senate and $250 from ASHMC.
With the elimination of ticketing costs, Lin hopes Monte Carlo will be a step towards creating a more inclusive and fun environment at the 5Cs, and that this will be a trial run that he hopes to expand to future CMC parties.