After these stories hit the international press, overnight Cloyne Court became the "infamous Cloyne Court." It was funny to watch as random people came to the house looking for a good, crazy time, but were ultimately disappointed by the lack of it and subsequently asked to leave.
On a typical night at Cloyne Court, one might find games of basketball, a high percentage of the house membership studying, members making goodies in the kitchen (the only secret ingredient is love) and many housemates watching "Grey's Anatomy" and "The Colbert Report."
Unfortunately to the world and the press, we are not the den of debauchery that you wished we were. We are exclusively students of the prestigious UC Berkeley. If anything, Cloyne Court too well captures the spirit of UC Berkeley. This house is home to a high concentration of brilliant students and a repository of student campus leadership. In this den of communistic debauchery we also have more than a dozen highly vocal Republicans that buy into cooperation. Irony knows few bounds here at Cloyne Court.
All of these factors I would argue contribute a great deal to the UC Berkeley commitment of a learning community that is both safe and diverse. At Cloyne Court, what we have is so good that I would say it merits study and replication. It might just change the world.
With 149 members, Cloyne Court is the largest residential co-op in North America. This house runs very well. As for our membership, we are open to any UC Berkeley student that wishes to live at a home and not just a residence. We are not a dormitory-we are a home. We do not discriminate in our membership in any fashion. As long as you can pay your fair share, work faithfully and willing to be part of community, we are willing to call you a member of our family.
Our policy of open membership and largely decentralized leadership is both our greatest strength and our biggest weakness. When members cooperate things are fine, but when members do not cooperate problems are created. The scramble for dinner at Cloyne Court is by far the greatest example of the Tragedy of the Commons that any professor of economics could hope for. These problems of cooperation are inherent in any governance structure.
Truthfully, just like any other student residence, there is some partying. At Cloyne Court though, we do not tolerate excessive or reckless partying. This violates both the social and the legal contract of living at this cooperative.
As for the incidents that occurred at Cloyne Court in the last few weeks, they are even greater tragedies because they mischaracterize the nature of our home.
I would say that the alleged "pot cookie" incident is a classic example of mass hysteria. It doesn't take pot cookies to make you have "feelings of doom." The recipe is simply police officers suggesting that if you do not cooperate, you will be arrested, kicked out of school, convicted, ostracized and sent to jail for criminal behavior, as some of my compatriots told me occured. Now just imagine the multiplication of these "feelings of doom" when you have eaten a green cookie.
Please empathize that after this, one would be truly hysterical. These circumstances then led those
students to be rightfully and forcibly evacuated to the hospital for safety reasons by the authorities.
Twelve students later, a public relations incident was created. News crews with cameras scampered around our home like Berkeley squirrels accosting students for another scrap. They sought to get insider information and a look into a Wacko Berkeley Student Co-op Gone Wrong. Then we were surprised by the Daily Californian reporters calling us and spamming us with emails as a result of Facebook stalking.
Now imagine going to class the next day. It makes being a UC Berkeley student a little more difficult.
With the passing of former member and friend Fre Hindeya, Cloyne Court suffered another stab to the heart. Fre was a close and much loved friend of many house members. While this was a tragic and unfortunate incident, it was purely bad luck that it happened at Cloyne. This could have happened anywhere.
Ultimately, it became more tragic and meaningful that it happened at Cloyne Court, a place that Fre truly adored.
As a house manager and a member of Cloyne Court, I would like to say that I would not have taken this job if I had thought that Cloyne was inherently unsafe or dangerous. I have too much to lose.
Like most UC Berkeley students, I have aspirations-mine include to someday become a U.S. Diplomat. The reason that I continue to do this job is because of the love and faith I place in the membership of this house and community to act in cooperation and in safety. I will not accept anything less.
Again, welcome to Cloyne Court.