This year’s Tulane Mardi Gras experience was a first for Brian Johnson, Assistant Vice President of Housing and Residential Life, as well as his new guest policy.

The new policy allowed for one guest per student instead of two, and charged a registration fee of $150 as opposed to last year’s fee of $40.

“We wanted to make sure we had a good controlled environment for our students that live here year-round,” Johnson said. “But also so they could have a guest and not impact those who didn’t have a guest.”

The previous ‘two guests per resident’ policy was changed because it violated fire codes in certain residence halls. The registration fee was increased to fund additional security and higher pay for employees working during the holiday season.

According to Johnson, there were very few reported issues this year, though he also said that this could not entirely be connected to the change in policy.

“We had what I would consider a normal weekend,” Johnson said. “We didn’t have anything significant occur.”

According to Josephine-Louise Residence Hall Resident Advisor Elena Perito, there weren’t any significant issues such as residents attempting to sneak in unregistered guests. Some of her residents, however, were confused by the post-Mardi Gras no guest period.

“I think the biggest problems arose after Mardi Gras, during that no-guest period, probably because that was less advertised,” Perito said.

During this period from Feb. 10 to 15, only Tulane students were allowed in the residence halls. Students could bring in guests from other residence halls, but not guests from outside of the Tulane community.

“The fact of the matter is that most of our problems sometimes on campus are related to people that don’t live here,” Johnson said.

According to Johnson, registering non-Tulane guests helps maintain a safe, controlled environment during the busy holiday season. The registration deadline for guests was extended twice before the Mardi Gras guest period began.

“We wanted [students] to register their guests because it was just about knowing who’s here and making sure everyone is safe and compliant and having a good time,” Johnson said.

Despite these extensions, some students still missed the deadline and were unable to register their guests.

Freshman Elena Muller said she did not receive the emails that informed students of the registration deadlines. Muller missed the final deadline and was told by HRL that her guest could not stay with her.

“I think the policy registration could be improved if they didn’t have a deadline for guest registration,” Muller said.