VCU students aim to redefine the college party through generosity

Mark Robinson
Assistant Spectrum Editor

For the past year, a group of VCU students has striven to throw parties that are forgettable for all the right reasons.

The GB’s, a non-profit party organization comprised of more than a dozen VCU students, has been offering a free service to VCU students who want to party. All they want is a house; they’ll do the rest.

But the GB’s didn’t start as a party throwing venture: it was founded as a biker gang of six friends during their junior year at VCU. Each original member’s bike is branded with the group’s logo, a golden bunny emitting a flame.

“It (represents) the gold standard: large crowds of sexual people ready to get buck wild, because everybody likes that,” said Will, an upperclassmen at VCU who asked that his full name not be published. “The flamethrower signifies the rager aspect. We like to go hard, like to go big. We’ve got party passion.”

The GB’s motivation to transition from a group of friends united by a common interest to professional partiers is rooted in the original members’ dissatisfaction with VCU’s party scene.

John, an original member of the GB’s who requests his full name not be published, recalls the police cracking down on fraternity parties in fall of 2009. Parties around campus became more exclusive and subsequently tamer because of the fear of legal consequences and punishment levied by VCU.

“The whole point of a party is to get as crazy and let loose as much as possible, and that wasn’t happening anymore,” John said. “So we decided to stir s— up.”

From that point on, the GB’s made it their goal to bring the insanity back to parties.

An estimated 200 to 300 people in cat attire turned out for “Kittens and Mittens,” the GBs’ trial run in fall of 2010 that they spent eight months planning. Will points to it as the group’s “shining moment.”

The group’s first official sponsored party, themed “Naughty School Girls,” was held at the same location on Pine Street and was equally successful.

To date, the GB’s have thrown parties across the Fan district, Oregon Hill and Randolph, the most recent of which happened the weekend before Thanksgiving break.

The GB’s typically don’t throw parties every weekend as a precaution, but also in an attempt to make their sponsored events more of an occasion, or as Will said, “not your typical Friday night party.”

“You just went through a whole week’s worth of exams, quizzes, homework assignments. Come Friday, sometimes Thursday, maybe even Wednesday, it’s time to celebrate. That’s the mentality,” Will said.

At every event they host, the GB’s provide music by way of a DJ or a band, a sound system and noise-cancelling equipment to offset the chance of a noise complaint.

The GB’s boast a four-member security team, which covers the party’s entrance and controls who is allowed in, in accordance with the wishes of the house owner. According to the GB’s, only one of their parties has been busted since employing the security team.

Additionally, if a host provides refreshments for their guests, the GB’s willingly match between 50 to 100 percent of the cost incurred in additional refreshments. A clean-up service for the day after the party is also available for a small fee.

“We want to provide an alternative,” John said. “You can live your life and be a totally normal person on your own, and when you want to rage it out, you can for free. You don’t have to pay dues. You don’t have to do community service … Just come party.”

What’s next for the GB’s? More parties (of course), GB’s apparel (men’s and women’s), and let’s just say if you see a coned-off exit ramp from interstate 195 with a slip-and-slide down it, you know who’s responsible.