A new analysis of email communications obtained by The Rearview between university and town officials in the weeks before the much-criticized 2023 edition of Fairfield’s SantaCon beach party revealed previously unknown efforts to deter students from attending the event. It also illustrates the behind-the-scenes disputes between the university and the town in the weeks before a town hall organized by city officials.

The almost 300 pages of email conversations were obtained as part of a freedom of information request and cover communications from Aug. 29, 2023 to Feb. 8, 2024. The town of Fairfield has not yet fulfilled a request for the minutes of meetings about SantaCon.

Based on the conversations that occurred via email weeks before students and visitors congregated in Lantern Point, Fairfield University Associate Dean of Students Allison Berger became a crucial liaison between the town and the university.

Berger provided the Fairfield Police Department with information on the timing of the SantaCon event, writing in one email that while students could “venture down” to the beach area on Dec. 2, 2023, the “overwhelming consensus” was that the 2023 SantaCon was going to take place on Dec. 9.

“SantaCon in Manhattan is planned for December 9^th,” an email sent to multiple town officials on Nov. 8 reads. “Fairfield’s Office of the Dean of Students is making outreach to area universities to inform them there will not be a repeat of last year and to request they message their students and plan events on their campuses.”

In another communication with Captain Peter Koval, Berger requested that the Lantern Point Association send a notification to renters “that state expectations and consequences” for the Dec. 2 and Dec. 9 beach parties.

Additionally, Berger acted as a liaison between the university and the Fairfield PD, coordinating the number of town police officers the university would hire in preparation for the event. The university ended up hiring eight officers to provide supplementary coverage.

The Rearview reached out to Berger for comments regarding her involvement in the planning for SantaCon but referred questions to the university’s marketing department.

In response, Fairfield’s vice president of marketing and communications, Jennifer Anderson, said that the university usually collaborates with town agencies in preparation for large-scale events, such as SantaCon.

“For decades, Fairfield University has engaged with police, fire and the health department, to develop collective action plans to minimize the impact of large events,” Anderson said in a written statement. “The Fairfield Police department has issued a statement regarding Santacon that was distributed to local and regional schools and universities, and Fairfield will support the efforts of the police department to prioritize the health, safety and wellbeing of our students, and the community.”

Fairfield Police Department said they maintain an “ongoing” dialogue with Fairfield University officials to “share information and coordinate efforts” in preparation for this year’s unsanctioned event.

In a statement, Sergeant Michael Stahl said that the size and scope of SantaCon requires almost triple the staffing compared to a normal shift, as law enforcement personnel is deployed to handle crowd control, traffic management and emergency response while maintaining coverage for the town.

“This effort comes with a financial cost, some of which Fairfield University helps offset. However, the demands on public safety agencies remain substantial,” Stahl said.

University administrators admitted to using Fizz for SantaCon

The morning before the beach party, on Dec. 8, Berger received an email from Fairfield Police Captain Peter Koval about information he received from a student intern alerting the department about the possibility of “students coming to tomorrow’s event from other colleges via buses.”

According to Koval, the specific schools mentioned were Trinity University, Quinnipiac University, Sacred Heart University and University of Connecticut. The Rearview was not able to independently confirm the information.

Koval requested that Berger coordinate with those universities messaging to discourage attendance, citing that they “will be turned away and risk arrest for trespassing.”

In response, Berger said she shared the information with three other university administrators and provided the captain with an update on what students were commenting on Fizz, an anonymous app that has become the main social media on campus.

“I am seeing Fizz students posting about early morning beach arrival, times not listed,” she shared with Fairfield PD Lieutenant Michael Stahl and Captain Koval.

In the statement to The Rearview, Koval said that because SantaCon is an unsanctioned event with no formal organizers, law enforcement officers “must rely on other sources, such as monitoring social media, to gather information and anticipate potential challenges.”

Berger was not the only Fairfield University administrator who used Fizz during the hours before SantaCon.

Anderson also appeared to have ordered her team to create posts for Fizz to discourage student attendance.

I will have my team create messaging for Fizz to deter non-Fairfield University students,” said Jennifer Anderson in response to Berger’s email.

While it is understood among students that some administrators and faculty have Fizz accounts, the Dec. 8 email communications from Berger and Anderson are the first known instance of the university using the anonymous app to influence students’ conversations.

Anderson did not explicitly address the issue when asked by The Rearview whether creating content for Fizz was a regular practice of the university’s marketing team.

“As a matter of student and community safety, the university, along with other agencies, monitors all social channels,” Anderson said in a written statement.

On Dec. 5, 2024, multiple Fizz posts were published minutes apart, encouraging students not to attend the event and to tell non-Fairfield students to avoid attending the beach on Dec. 7, 2024. The messages were posted anonymously.

Fairfield wanted a ‘true partnership’ in the wake of heated SantaCon Town Hall

After the issues of SantaCon 2023, town officials reported receiving a deluge of public comments about the environmental consequences of the trash left on the beachfront and nearby public roads. 

One of those comments came from RTM member Dru Mercer Georgiadis, who questioned the university’s downplaying of the SantaCon aftermath in statements provided to Patch.

“Also, stating that things got ‘a bit out [of] control,’ or whatever similar words you used to downplay what happened at Santa Con, do the relationship Fairfield has with the beach neighborhood a disservice,” the RTM District 9 member said in the Dec. 20 communication. “Honesty is crucial to a healthy, long-term relationship.”

The university and town officials maintain that most SantaCon attendants were non-Fairfield University students. Anderson claimed that “more than 70% of the infractions and medical incidents last year were non-Fairfield University students.”

In response to the number of public comments, Gerber’s office wanted to hold a two-hour-long town hall on Jan. 23, 2024, to serve as a listening opportunity. The emails reviewed by The Rearview show efforts by the town to have representatives from the University and FUSA.

However, the discussion for the town hall took a turn on Jan. 20, when Anderson emailed Gerber’s Chief of Staff concerned that the university had apparently found out about the town hall from the selectman’s newsletter and that Fairfield University President Mark Nemec was not receiving responses to text messages sent to Gerber.

According to a review of the email communications between Anderson and Christine Brown, Gerber’s Chief of Staff, conversations about the planning for the town hall event first started on Jan. 8.

Anderson added that the social media posts in the days after SantaCon “did not present efforts that the University and municipalities made leading up to the event, or the immediate response we took when we learned of the garbage.”

“Our relationship with the Town is much more than SantaCon. We understand there will always be conflicts of interest, but it seems as if this has all been contrived in a way that doesn’t feel collaborative,” the email reads.

A Rearview article discussing the January town hall shows an overwhelming number of public comments were directed at the university, demanding Fairfield University take responsibility for the student-organized event and move the event to the North Benson campus.

This year, the town and the university adopted a stronger narrative against the partygoers in preparation for Saturday’s event.

In one of two letters sent to the Stag community, Dean of Student William Johnson stressed that students should not attend the beach party scheduled on Dec. 7.

“I remain optimistic that you will choose not to engage in this unsanctioned event,” Johnson said in an email sent to students on Dec. 4 detailing information about security logistics for the weekend.

In the week before the Thanksgiving academic recess, Johnson also shared a letter from the Fairfield Police Department alerting the Fairfield University community that the SantaCon event “has not been authorized or sanctioned by the Fairfield Police Department.”

“We urge all members of the Fairfield University community to adhere strictly to all laws and to demonstrate respect for the broader Fairfield community by refraining from participation in any authorized events,” the letter signed by Captain Michael Paris reads.

The same letter was also distributed to other local institutions.

In September, the town announced it had hired an external law firm to manage the possible legal damages related to the Christmas-themed beach party.

More recently, the Office of Residence Life announced that most of the lounges inside the residence halls will be “locked” for the weekend “to deter unregistered guests.” It is unclear how the closing of the lounges will help to deter guests from coming to campus.

As in the previous year, students venturing to the beach on Dec. 7 can expect “heavy police presence in the beach area” from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Additionally, ResLife announced that there will also be an increased number of security officers and administrators on campus “as an additional resource for your well-being and to deter disruptive behavior.”https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FGerberforFairfield%2Fposts%2Fpfbid0jJYsLumpR4eNwsgZLhirypHKhAQqUjThAAjeaXeb5ydF1pT4Jyi18jAbqWmcUSKJl&show_text=true&width=500

In a statement to The Rearview, First Selectman Bill Gerber said the expectation is for students to respect town property and to avoid last year’s trash leftovers.

“Although we love having students in Town, we expect our beaches and private property to be treated with respect,” Gerber said. “Our goal is for students to make a greater effort toward environmental stewardship and peaceful co-existence in the beach area.” 

“The University and its students are capable of organizing sober teams to ensure this can be achieved during activities, as opposed to the next day when much of their trash has already been swept into Long Island Sound.”