Two intoxicated women were transported to a local hospital after attending the Casa Blanca dance party in Willcox Hall on Sat., Feb. 27, according to Senior Associate Director for Student Development and Campus Activities Shawn Livingston.

The women were guests of Pace students.

Livingston said he and the staff working the event, including campus security and the hosting Organization of Latin American Students (OLAS), felt that it was “ in the best interest” of the two women to call paramedics.

“[They] were disoriented, said they had been drinking, vomiting. Their eyes were rolling into the back of their heads,” Livingston said.

A third woman was also intoxicated but did not require medical attention, according to OLAS president, Tiffany Ocampo.

“It was brought to my attention that one girl was throwing up in the bathroom, one was [vomiting] in the trashcan, and one was in a different part of the building,” Ocampo said.

Ocampo said the woman in the bathroom was “passed out” on the toilet.

“She was responsive and I was able to get her up and find her host to get her back to their room,” Ocampo said. “I’m a [Residential Advisor], so I know the symptoms of alcohol poisoning.”

OLAS members, along with security and staff members, decided to shut down the event early.

“The students cared enough about their guests to make that decision,” Livingston said. “They wanted to minimize the risk to everybody else because it was unclear if alcohol had been taken into the event.”

Students and guests were also notified about the event’s policies up to four times before the event, according to Livingston.

Metal detectors were in place to prevent weapons or items such as lighters from being brought into the venue. Security also performed pat-downs on all 200 partygoers and checked the bathrooms and main room prior to the event.

“I was checking students in until twelve, trying to look for anything suspicious,” Ocampo said. “Security even checked the staff, including myself. No one came in stumbling so I had the feeling that everyone was respecting the rules. We would have refused them at the door if we thought someone was intoxicated.”

Although Livingston said security is “pretty thorough,” this is not the first incident where people were medically transported from a Pace event due to the use of alcohol or drugs.

“I’ve worked probably twenty events, but I never had to shut one down,” Livingston said. “We have a pretty great system. You can’t control the individual behaviors of guests or students.”

Ocampo said members of OLAS were “disappointed that [they] had to disappoint others” by shutting down the party. However, she said they agreed it was an intelligent decision and she received positive feedback from guests despite the incident.