A monumental event in the history of Avery House took place on Saturday night—its first Interhouse.

For all other Houses, building Interhouse is a tradition. Unlike other Houses, Avery had to first decide whether or not to have and/or build an Interhouse. This year, Avery decided to build Interhouse based on the results of an informal poll conducted before winter break.

The main goal of Avery’s Interhouse was to “bond the house to the Caltech community and within itself.... The other houses have been inviting us to their Interhouses for the past three years. Inviting them here was the nice thing to do.”

In previous years, Avery members considered hosting an Interhouse. According to newly elected Avery Chancellor Joules Gould, Avery didn’t build an Interhouse until this year because Avery officially became a House three years ago. Having three classes available to plan and construct the party made its realization more plausible.

Also based on the results of the dinner poll, Avery didn’t serve any alcohol. Fifty percent of poll respondents wanted a dry party, 25 percent were neutral, and only 25 percent of respondents wanted alcohol to be served.

This is unique among Interhouse parties, where thousands of dollars are usually allocated to Caltech-provided bartending and alcohol. In one past Ruddock Interhouse, organizers tried to host a dry party, but were pressured into serving alcohol by attending Ruddock alumni. Avery House technically has no alumni, since it only became a House three years ago.

Instead of serving alcohol, Avery House served $4,000 of Caltech Dining Services catered food, although food at the party disappeared rapidly. Over $2,000 of this expense was subsidized by declining balance donated by Avery members, also unique among Interhouses. Residents of Avery House each receive $1,400 a term of declining balance, whereas members of other Houses each receive $400 a term.

One of the major concerns of Avery members during discussions of Interhouse was whether or not enough people would help with the construction. Based on the responses to the poll, Avery did.

“A lot of people said they would help out. As a house, Avery tries not to force people to do anything. We just ask nicely,” says Gould.

Newly elected Social Director Ryan Hamerly, in charge of construction for the party, took the lead on constructing Interhouse, having helped build the Avery-Blacker Interhouse for the past two years. “He’s always out there,” said Joules.

It’s unclear how many Avery members helped construct the party. “I would say we had enough people to build this party,” says Hamerly. Gould, Hamerly, and Avery Interhouse Art Director Esther Shyu were all pleased with the party’s progress and felt prepared for Saturday night, despite slight impediment from the rain on Friday.more...