SPG DJ Prescott Smith ’16 plays a basement set

It’s arguably Brown’s most notorious party, an event so renowned that students will wait into the late hours of a Sunday evening weeks beforehand merely to experience it for themselves. Commonly touted by the Queer Alliance as a safe space, it has nonetheless attracted criticism from outside media and Brown students alike. But, in the end, what would SPG be without the music?

“At other parties, people are always requesting songs,” notes Ben Shack Sackler ’16, “but at SPG, people are there for the experience, and you try to give them that experience.”  Known also by his DJ moniker Ethos Nebula, Sackler was one of three DJs who performed over the course of the evening, along with Nikos Melachrinos ’15 and Prescott Smith ’16. In total, the three performed for over three hours, providing tunes for the entire duration of the party. So what kind of music, exactly, was featured at this year’s SPG?

[Read more →]

It’s that time of year again, folks. Sex. Power. God. And for those of you, like myself, whose parents asked a lot of questions about the SPG posters across campus during Parents Weekend, you may have had a lot of explaining to do. So how do you talk to your parents about SPG? Or to friends from other schools who have heard about Brown’s raging sex parties? Here are some helpful things to say if you’re a tad bit tongue-tied and want your tongue to be tied with someone else’s at SPG:

1. The Basics: SexPowerGod, or SPG, is the largest annual dance put on by a student group here at Brown. In the last few years, approximately 600 students were given tickets. This year, only 400 tickets were sold. The event is put on by the Queer Alliance, and it’s entirely student-run: students plan every aspect of the event, from the postering to the DJing. Since the event is put on by the QA, many posters advertising the event feature queer students and activities, though it is designed for students of all sexualities, and all tend to be well-represented. It is meant to be a safe space where students can feel comfortable exploring their bodies and their sexualities without fear of judgement, but in recent years, the rules about what is and is not acceptable at SPG have become much stricter. Even so, you will most likely see things you haven’t before. And that’s okay. It is an opportunity for all to test the boundaries of their comfort levels. [Read more →]

Get ready.

Brown has been in the news a fair amount lately. Well, now it’s that time of year to remember why Jesse Watters first noticed us: It starts with an S, ends with a G, and its dress code is minimalist, but not in the conventional way.

SexPowerGod tickets sales begin October 20th and will continue until the morning of the 21st. Before you rush to get on line now, there are some important changes to this year’s event that you absolutely need to know about. [Read more →]

Tonight from 7–11 p.m., Brown’s Queer Alliance will be hosting the Queer Carnival on Pembroke Field, and everyone is welcome!

For those of you who don’t know, the QA is awesome and brings us the only Bill O’Reilly-air-time-worthy party of the year: SexPowerGod. For those of you wondering, unfortunately this event will require that you wear clothing… but there are lots of awesome goodies that will make you want to come anyway.

RISD will have a photo booth, Bluestockings Magazine will be present, and Roger Williams Law School is bringing a BOUNCY HOUSE! Looks like Spring Weekend is coming early this year. There will also free cotton candy and popcorn, a variety of carnival games, and a kissing booth (!)

Whether you plan on going hard at the club Friday night or going hard at the SciLi, you should definitely stop by the Queer Carnival. Ethos Nebula (otherwise known as DJ Ben) will be spinning the music. If you win the most games at the carnival, you get a free ticket to SPG (major score)!

Check out the Facebook event here and look out for more cool events hosted by Queer Alliance!

Image via.

It’s time to rage

Brunonians, the time has come to party non-stop. This Saturday, Queer Alliance and Black Student Union are teaming up to provide an awesome campus party.

How did this match made in heaven occur you might ask? Queer Alliance, the student group that annually brings us Pride Prom, The Brown/RISD Drag Show, and, obviously, SPG, were signed up to host a party during Spring Weekend. BSU had a similar interest and in a stroke of genius contacted QA for a collaboration. Both groups have been very eager to coordinate with other student groups on campus, and with a joint agenda of making this campus more QPOC- (Queer People of Color) friendly, this party is the perfect opportunity.

This event has a noble backstory, but let’s not forget that on top of their beautiful intentions, this party will be a rager. Get ready to dance your ass off to their DJ side by side with the POLER BEARS (they booked ten!) We can’t think of a better way to follow up Fratty at the Ratty.

The party will take place at Andrews Dining Hall from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. The capacity is 600 and they are rapidly approaching said limit, so get your tickets now! They’re available until Thursday and reservations can be made here with cash given at specified times in Faunce. Like SPG, Brown students are allowed to purchase a ticket for one guest as well. Also, like for SPG, there will be lines, so you may want to think about getting there early.

Check the Facebook event here and be expecting more exciting collaborative efforts from QA and BSU in the future.

First-years: after almost two months, you likely feel less frosh-ish than you did when you got here. You’ve ventured into frats and navigated off-campus parties, you’ve done all the normal illegal things and some legal things that were so out there that they likely should be illegal. You want to keep this amazing experience rolling, but what’s this SexPowerGod thing you keep hearing about? Well, I’m with you on that one.

I’ve tried asking other freshmen, but they had just as many questions as I did. This is the biggest dance of the year, and despite its politically correct message, it sparks endless controversy (maybe it has to do with the barely-clothed promotional posters?) and raises a lot questions and concerns. Before I jumped through the hoops to get my name on the guest list, I decided to act as a liason for the freshmen class and ask Blog’s sex guru Monica Bruinsky for the real deal on SPG. Here are some frosh expectations compared to the upperclassmen realities: [Read more →]

HuffPo published its list of LGBT friendly colleges yesterday via Unigo, and Brown came in at a fabulous number 4.

Let’s be honest: Nobody’s really surprised.

We have a rainbow flag hanging on the Main Green. We counter-protest. We’re the school with a badass Queer Alliance that throws SPG, hosted IvyQ last year, and generally makes the campus a delicious alphabet soup of queer activism.

It is nice to get the recognition, especially since this is up from last year’s Daily Beast rating, which put us at a paltry 9.

(Plus, we’re the only Ivy to make the list. While we shouldn’t be petty—suck that, New Haven!)

­And by the way, HuffPo, it’s LGBTQ. Let’s be inclusive here.