Night of Decadence
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Every year around Halloween, Wiess College at Rice University throws a party called Night of Decadence (commonly referred to simply as NOD). The party was first held in 1972 and quickly became a legendary event at Rice and in Houston, drawing young alumni and students from other universities in addition to Rice students. It was also named to the Top 10 College Parties in America by Playboy magazine in the 1970s. After a few years as simply Night of Decadence, the College began adopting a theme for each year's party. In the 1970s and 1980s, many of the themes were historical and/or apocalyptic in nature (e.g. The Fall of Rome, Caligula, Armageddon, Animal Farm, The Trojan War). By the 1990s the themes were generally sexual puns, often based on movie titles (e.g. James Bondage, Lust in Space).
Instead of traditional costumes, students dress as degenerately (or as minimally) as possible. Pregnant nuns and drag dress are some of the tamer outfits. Although there are always several people creatively attired in Saran Wrap or fishnet stockings and pasties, a typical costume is boxer shorts for men, and bra and panties for women. Because of its overtly sexual context, NOD eventually became a polarizing event on the Rice campus. Alternative events on campus included Night of Innocence (offered since at least the 1980s) and Night of Praise. NOD remains one of the most popular parties on campus, though the decorations have become more conservative in recent years.
Regardless of the stated theme, the decorations for NOD were overtly sexual. For many years NOD's trademark was "Sparky", a giant phallus built of papier-mache and suspended from the ceiling of the Commons. ("Sparky's" also became the nickname of Wiess's basement game room.) Often Sparky was aligned with a corresponding anatomical prop at the other end of the room; one year a motor was added to move Sparky back and forth during the party. In some years a second Sparky was constructed with internal tubing that delivered Everclear punch from an upstairs mixing area to a suitably-shaped serving trough below.
[edit] NOD Themes
| 1973-'75 | Night of Decadence |
| 1976 | Fall of Rome |
| 1977 | Wiess Palms / Motel 6 (Sanitized for your protection) |
| 1978 | Animal House |
| 1979 | 30th Anniversary of the Erection of Wiess |
| 1980 | Halloween |
| 1981 | Caligula |
| 1982 | Armageddon |
| 1983 | Co-eds in Chains (the year Wiess became a co-ed college) |
| 1984 | Animal Farm |
| 1985 | The Final Chapter (last year in which the Texas drinking age was 19) |
| 1986 | Reserection |
| 1987 | The Trojan War |
| 1988 | Motel Wiess |
| 1989 | Die Hard: 40 Years and Still Erect |
| 1990 | Dante's Inferno |
| 1991 | Seuss is Loose |
| 1992 | Garden of Delights |
| 1993 | James Bondage |
| 1994 | Lust In Space |
| 1995 | Scamtasia |
| 1996 | Wei'Kutopo (Amazonian jungle theme) |
| 1997 | The Greatest NOD On Earth (circus theme) |
| 1998 | Silver Anniversary: NOD's Greatest Hits (25th Anniversary) |
| 1999 | The Wizard of NOD |
| 2000 | Never Never NOD |
| 2001 | 2001: A Space NODyssey |
| 2002 | Cops and Robbers: A NOD to Authority |
| 2003 | NODty or Nice - Santa's Coming |
| 2004 | NOD Bless America: Choose Your Position |
| 2005 | NODdy by Nature: A Walk on the Wild Side |
| 2006 | NODical Adventure: A Salute to Seamen |
| 2007 | The Sheriff of NODdingham: Bring Your Stiffest Arrow |
