Temple University Cancels Spring Fling

A long-running tradition at Temple University is no more.

Officials at the university announced that the school’s tradtional Spring Fling won't happen next April due to excessive drinking among students. The decision comes in the aftermath of the death of a University of South Carolina student who died after falling from a roof during this year’s Spring Fling event.

Last April, 19-year-old Ali Fausnaught fell three stories from the roof of a North Philadelphia row house on the 1900 block of North 18th Street during a Spring Fling party.

Fausnaught, of Brownstown, Pa. (Lancaster County) was once a student at West Chester University who then transferred to the University of South Carolina. She was visiting her boyfriend, who attends Temple. According to investigators, Fausnaught tripped over a 10-inch high ledge and fell about 40 feet, landing in an alley near the back of the property. She was taken to Temple University Hospital around 5 p.m. where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later.

School administrators say their decision to cancel Spring Fling wasn’t because of Fausnaught’s death though they described the incident as “devastating.”

Spring Fling is an annual event at Temple University that features numerous events, music and parties. After the most recent Spring Fling, school administrators conducted a series of meetings where they discussed the event’s future. According to the Temple News, the university officials determined that the event was not meeting the goals the school had set for it in the past. They also called the event a “detriment to the academic climate.”

Stephanie Ives, the Dean of Students, told TTN the event became “something where students perceive it as an excuse to drink and a drinking holiday.” Officials also said many students also skipped classes the day of the event and that professors even canceled classes.