The “mob mentality” of the Exotic Erotic crowd was simply too much to handle, University officials said yesterday to explain the party’s premature closure. Despite careful party-planning by the 680 Lomita staff and University administrators, guests were able to break in through the back of the house, creating a “breach of security,” and Exotic Erotic was shut down at approximately 12 a.m. — an hour earlier than expected.

While Associate Director of Student Activities Joey Greenwell lauded the house staff’s efforts and cooperation with the University, he said the decision to shut down Stanford’s infamous annual party resulted from “a select group of guests who were disrespectful to the party hosts.”

Although staff members were having problems for most of the night with guests pushing and shoving to enter the party, they decided to act when a group of students broke through a 7-to-8-foot chain-link fence to enter the party through the back.

According to 680 House Manager Jeff Mancuso, a senior, one of the bullets of the rented fence came loose, causing the fence to fall apart because it had not been assembled properly. While security guards initially tried to hold up the fence, they could not control the large numbers of students who were attempting to get in.

Coupled with the large crowd of students waiting in line, the broken fence prompted Manusco to tell Greenwell and other security guards and staff members, “We need to shut down this party.”

Mancuso described the people waiting to enter as a “sea of humanity.”

“There were far, far too many people,” Mancuso said. “The party was over-hyped; there were more people [here on Saturday] than had ever come to Exotic Erotic before.”

He estimated that there were 700 to 800 people in line at 10 p.m. — the time the doors opened after the house was initially evacuated. The staff stopped letting people in around 10:45 p.m., as the 1,000-guest capacity had already been reached. They later made an announcement telling people to disperse because the party was full and they weren’t sure how many more people they could accommodate.

After getting additional support from the Stanford Department of Public Safety, who barricaded the entrance area, Greenwell said he was confident of the staff’s ability to control the crowds. But the party had to be shut down when people started entering from the back.

“There were just too many people going through,” Greenwell said. “It wasn’t possible to put the gates back up. Students weren’t willing to work with us.”

Other party problems included a defective circuit breaker that caused the outside lights to go out at about 11:50 p.m. There were no lights for the bar and the floodlights also went out. The band had no power for half the night. The staff was able to fix this problem intermittently.

In spite of the unfortunate ending to this year’s Exotic Erotic, Greenwell said he was hopeful about bringing the party back next year.

“It’s my hope that Exotic Erotic will continue,” he said. “We tried really hard to keep it going and I was disappointed [that it ended early]. I could see the disappointment on students’ faces. Some people were really creative with the costumes — I was really impressed.”

He added, “But the entrance situation needs to be resolved [for the next Exotic Erotic].”

Mancuso said two solutions discussed were having the party in a larger and more secure location, most likely hosted by another group or — the solution he found more promising — to make sure that there are alternative parties going on at the same time.

“There were no other parties going on [on Saturday], so people got trashed, got naked and they weren’t about to leave,” Mancuso said.

Dean of Students Greg Boardman explained that the first step to prepare for next year will be a series of meetings with Residential Education, the Police Department, the Office of Student Activities, the 680 party planners and other students.

“We need to determine what exactly occurred, the pros and cons of continuing, additional provisions that could be put in place and the problems that led to the party being shut down,” Boardman said. “If the problems can be rectified, we will go forward. There is strong sentiment for the party to continue.”

Despite police intervention, Police Department officials reported only four party-related arrests, with three arrests made for drunkeness in public and one arrest made for resistance to arrest. There were no paramedic requests related to the party.

Greenwell emphasized that the party’s premature end was due mainly to certain impatient students who felt entitled to get into the party, creating a difficult and uncomfortable atmosphere for the planners and guests.

“A lot of people were being thoughtful and just wanted to have a good time,” he said.