Night of Decadence

Night of Decadence, commonly referred to as NOD, is a party held every year around Halloween at Wiess College at Rice University.^[1]

The party was first held in 1972 and quickly became a legendary event at Rice and in Houston, drawing young alumni and students from other universities in addition to Rice students. It was also named to the Top 10 College Parties in America by Playboy magazine.^[2]

Early History

NOD was founded by 4 Wiess College men. In the early '70s, each college at Rice had an event to raise money to fund the college's parties for the year. At that time, the drinking age was 18 and the colleges sponsored on-campus parties with alcohol. Wiess had the least amount of funds. The Wiess men were tasked with coming up with a fundraiser party.

Year 1: "Night of Decadence" - The general idea was to buy as much booze as they could, pour it into trashcans, and drink. The concoction was primarily Everclear, cheap wine, and fruit. (It's probably not hard to believe these were the same men who painted themselves orange to streak Rice-UT baseball, started campus-wide streaks to Mecom Fountain, voted a refrigerator Homecoming Queen, and could not take girls back to Wiess due to general uncouth behavior of Wiess men.) The first year no one from any other college attended. There were about 30 Wiess men who "attended." Even so, the college did manage to break even.

Year 2: "Night of Decadence II" - The same no-theme theme continued. But, a few non-Wiess students attended, even a few women. The college made a little money the second year.

Year 3: "Return of Night of Decadence" - The word was finally getting out. By the third year, a much larger crowd attended and a large profit was made.

Year 4: "Beyond Night of Decadence" - The year the giant phallus was introduced! This was also the first time NOD was truly a toga party. Everyone on campus showed up and it was the major party of the year.

Overview

The Houston Press suggested the college began adopting a theme for each year's party in 1976.^[3] However, it is wrong. According to the founders, togas and minimal clothing was there at the beginning. It has been suggested that in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the themes were historical and/or apocalyptic in nature (e.g. The Fall of Rome, Caligula, Armageddon, Animal Farm, the Trojan War). Again, according to the founders, that is incorrect, at least for the first years. The founders were not going for historical or apocalyptic: The founders made a conscious decision to name the year's NOD with a nod to a movie title. By the 1990s the themes were generally sexual puns, often based on movie titles (e.g., James Bondage, Lust in Space).

Instead of traditional costumes, students dress as degenerately (or as minimally) as possible. Pregnant nuns and drag dress are some of the tamer outfits. Although there are always several people creatively attired in Saran Wrap or fishnet stockings and pasties, a typical costume is boxer shorts for men, and bra and panties for women. Because of its overtly sexual context, NOD eventually became a polarizing event on the Rice campus. Alternative events on campus include the rapidly growing Evening of Elegance (recently started in 2014), Night of Innocence (offered since at least the 1980s), and, in previous years, Night of Praise and NODgeball. NOD remains one of the most popular parties on campus, though the decorations have become more conservative in recent years. Each year over one thousand people attend NOD.

Regardless of the stated theme, the decorations for NOD were overtly sexual. For many years NOD's trademark was "Sparky", a giant phallus built of papier-mâché and suspended from the ceiling of the Commons. (Sparky's also became the nickname of Wiess's basement game room.) Often Sparky was aligned with a corresponding anatomical prop at the other end of the room; one year a motor was added to move Sparky back and forth during the party. In some years a second Sparky was constructed with internal tubing that delivered Everclear punch from an upstairs mixing area to a suitably shaped serving trough below.^[4]

Significant safety efforts were instituted starting in 1999.^[5]

The party now garners over 1,500 people.^[6]

NOD themes

See also

• Land of Nod

References

• Which college comes out tops in Fun 101? DallasNews published Sept 21, 1991
• College collage Alumni share insights with Sam Houston students Fort Worth Star-Telegram published January 10, 1994