Several seniors now face severe punishments after showing up intoxicated to the senior rally Friday, April 24. Others may face similar consequences for throwing tennis balls from the stands at rally performers.

The rally began with the usual class spirit competitions but when the lights went out for the dance team’s performance, chaos followed. Students began throwing tennis balls and fruit at the dance team while they finished performing their number.

“When lights go out, students tend to be much more rambunctious,” ASB President Michelle Velasquez said. “The last rally is titled the ‘Senior Finale Rally’ because it is dedicated to the seniors. ASB wanted to do something special [and] decided on getting black lights and glow sticks.”

But the glow sticks proved to be a hazard for various rally performers. During the glow dance, eight seniors dressed head-to-toe in black and taped their suits with glow sticks. The extra glow sticks that were distributed to the crowd were flung from the stands onto the gym floor.

Senior Huzefa Moiz, a member of the team, was a little distracted by the glow sticks.

“It didn’t really hurt but it was a little difficult,” Moiz said. “We didn’t have much visibility in the masks.”

Senior Luke Wulf, another member of the team, agreed but had expected the throwing.

Vice Principal Bryan Martin took responsibility for the incident.

“It was getting too out of control,” Martin said, referring to the two dances. “That was a mistake on my part. I usually pre-approve all of that. When things go into the stands, they come out even faster.”

The administration, he added, may have found a couple of students who started throwing the tennis balls. Those students may face consequences as well.

“There was a lot of inappropriate behavior that disappointed me,” Martin said. “In order to have these rallies, we expect a certain type of student behavior to maintain it.”

Velasquez agreed.

“Seeing the students have fun when the black lights turned on and fog machines started going was awesome,” she said. “But I understand the administrations worry about safety.”

At the end of the rally, Martin faced off in a rap battle against Senior Alec Mandell. Students leaped off the stands and attempted to create a mosh pit around the battle. According to Martin, these rap battles will no longer take place and lights will need to stay on during future rallies.

But many are left wondering what’s next for those who were found by the administration to have been intoxicated at the rally.

According to Velasquez, some of the students were suspended, others were removed from athletic teams, and the majority lost senior privileges.

“In my opinion, the rally turned out more chaotic than fun because I knew when things weren’t going as planned,” Velasquez said. “I am leaving with a heavy heart because I have a gut feeling that rallies will be canceled all together for the school if such conduct continues.”

Martin hopes that this incident will be a reminder about what was discussed at the senior meeting.

“We keep to our word. That’s hard for me because I know a lot of these kids just made mistakes,” Martin said.

These rules have been put in place in other nearby high schools as well. At Thousand Oaks High School, the school administration stopped a mosh pit from forming at a rally earlier this year and at Westlake High School, the consequences for disrupting a rally normally affect graduation and grad night privileges, depending on the level of the action.

“We want to keep having these rallies. They’re a lot of fun,” Martin said. “But if the conduct becomes so poor that we can’t maintain order, we would have to cancel them. It’s up to the students to act appropriately.”