As I plop myself down in a cushioned chair inside the Elmo library, I take in the scenery around me. There are posters and pictures of former Elmo members everywhere on the walls—decades of history in the room—and I almost feel like I’m desecrating the area with my presence.
Eevee Darling sits across from me with her bleach blonde hair, twiddling a red ball in her hand. It’s hard to imagine that I’ve never seen her on campus before, as she embodies a distinct aesthetic that would make her stand out from a crowd of Penn students—it's not only her hair that’s striking, but her silver jewelry and black attire.
At some point, we migrate to the backyard of the house, where mosquitoes start launching themselves toward me. I squeal as they bite me, but attempt to play it cool so as to not interrupt our conversation.
By the time our interview is over, I can count at least 15 mosquito bites scattered across my legs. It’s a small price to pay for an afternoon inside the world of Eevee Darling.
Name: Eevee Darling
Hometown: Carlisle, Mass.
Major/Minor: Real Estate and Computer Science
Activities: St. Elmo Club, Herzog Collective, Bloomers, Kinoki Senior Society, The Order
The Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology is a pretty intense program. You’re also a part of Elmo, a member of Herzog, a DJ, and in Bloomers. How do you see these different parts of your life fitting together?
I think I’ve sought out similar things in each area. I’ve used my perspective on real estate to give physical spaces on campus a purpose—either as a home, or as a social space, or for some external purpose or audience on campus. If you want to create an effect on the physical space of the world, which dictates all of our lives, a strong way to do that is to work in the business of space.
I’ve also put my engineering side to use. It fits well with my experiences in audio engineering, which is very electrical, very physics–based. It has enabled us to invest in the actual equipment for all these functions that we provide—a lot of audio gear, lighting systems, things of that nature. I’ve kind of sought out similar things in both regards. Most of my extracurricular focuses at Penn have also just been about finding a strong community—a community where I’m able to make a difference in my day–to–day life, but also a meaningful impact on the lives of those around me.
Does M&T influence any part of how you DJ? Are there any computer science classes you’ve taken that have taught you how to DJ better?
I think that more broadly, the engineering side has helped me. I started out doing systems, so I took a lot of electrical classes as well. I’ve done a lot of audio engineering, and that’s very electrical and physics–oriented. I buy vintage speakers a lot to fix them up. Our system here at Elmo’s is pretty analog. A lot of the gear at Herzog is, as well. I think the engineering perspective of knowing how to put things together, and how they’re working electronically, has helped make a lot of things possible for us. It’s enabled us to invest in higher quality gear for a lot cheaper because we know how to put it together.
How much power do you think a DJ has over the mood or behavior of a crowd?
The crowd is influenced by the music. You start to pick up on what’s landing and what’s not. If you are attentive to it, you can really guide things.
Is there a go–to song that you’ll play when you know that the energy is down?
Nope. I’ve never really planned a set out. It’s always been very in the moment for me. My philosophy is that I always just play exactly what I want to hear at that time. If you are listening to stuff around campus, and if you’re paying attention to what’s happening, I think it’s actually not too hard to predict what is going to work. It comes intuitively once you’ve been exposed to different types of music and thought about it intentionally.
Do you feel like Penn has a distinctive party culture, or is it pretty similar to other schools?
I think a lot of the events at Penn have moved away from the classic fraternity party model, where they’re blasting typical pop music. At Penn, there’s more pressure to put something on that’s worth going to and that people would choose over going out to a club or a bar off–campus.
Elmo is known around campus as the queer frat. Do you feel like that perception holds true?
We definitely are placed in that bucket and corralled in that way. I think relative to other Greek organizations, because we don't have the same gendered model, that could be true—but we don’t internally identify like that. We do our own thing. We’re not grouped in the system or the hierarchy in the same way, which also gives us more freedom to self–identify and change over time.
If other Panhellenic sororities or fraternities became co–ed, do you think they would embody the same vibe as Elmo, or would they still be grounded in a hierarchy?
With Greek life, you have entrenched identities that have formed traditions. For Elmo, it was a gradual transition—we had already been taking in women as social members for a while before they got full rights within the fraternity. I think it’s not super uncommon at other schools. I think it takes a certain identity within the organization to make that happen successfully.
Elmo is also quite old. It’s the oldest frat at Penn, and it’s the third oldest nationally. A lot of the old fraternities have more of a sovereign identity school–to–school than their national organizations, just because they’ve been around for so long. I think that allows for more fluidity in that sense, because the chapter can kind of self–identify as its own thing. The more recent Greek organizations, which have more consistent top–down control or a national sense of sisterhood, would be harder to shift because then you’re deviating from this charter that’s coming from above you.
Most people at Penn would say that Greek life is exclusive, but Elmo’s public events aim to be inclusive. How do you manage that tension and make Elmo a welcoming space for other people?
I think we’ve always tried to be as welcoming as possible. We work really hard to cultivate an inclusive culture internally. The primary purpose of all these organizations is to bring benefit to members of the house, for our community and the community around the house. That purpose is something that we carry forward, especially relative to other groups on campus who might care less about that.
So you wouldn’t say an Elmo event is meant to cater to everybody at Penn, right? It would primarily be members of Elmo and friends of Elmo?
I think that’s the more honest intention of a lot of these kinds of organizations.
As both a DJ and party planner for Herzog, you probably pay more attention to how people behave at parties than the average person. What have you learned about Penn students from watching them party?
Penn is a very social school. Everyone just wants to hang out and talk! I think that’s something that we’re trying to facilitate at Herzog, even more than the dancing and stuff per se.
For people who don’t know, what is Herzog? What is the primary goal of the collective?
We’re primarily an artist collective. What that actually means is that on top of living in the same home, we have this model where we pool our resources. We all pay a little bit extra that goes into a fund that’s intended to be used for whatever the vision of the house is at any given moment. We usually respond to some kind of need that we feel on campus, whether that’s to socialize more, or connect, or have some kind of release by coming and dancing, or celebrating something at the start or end of the year. It’s a resource pooling model that allows us to pursue a collective vision that we develop together.
What’s the takeaway that you want people to have from Herzog parties?
We always try to show people a new experience—something that they would be excited to come to and enjoy with other people. We think a lot about how we’re setting up the house physically, how we’re designing the space and the arc of the night, and the different experiences that we enable at each point within an event. We never do any event twice. It’s not about the event itself or the project itself, but the feeling and need that we can serve in that moment.
Penn students spend much of their lives thinking about classes, recruiting, clubs, and what comes next. Do you think going out is an escape from that culture, or do the same pressures and hierarchies show up in Penn’s social scene?
I think it does mirror it a lot. You escape that more and more the older you get at Penn. Everything at Penn is very status–oriented. That is also why it has been refreshing to be in spaces like Elmo and Herzog that care a lot less about that. I haven’t thought about those aspects of Penn in a long time. I think a lot more about my friends and who we want to spend time and hang out with.
You mentioned that everything at Penn is very status–oriented, and that Elmo and Herzog have been an escape from that. One could argue, though, that membership in organizations like Elmo and Herzog have become status indicators in their own right. Would you agree?
That is also true. I think we think about that less from the inside. It comes from the scarcity [of these types of groups on campus]. It would be nice if there was more competition, and if there were more organizations to be a part of that are doing similar things, but with people that have different focuses or occupy different identities as a collective.
What would you change about Penn’s party culture?
It’d be cool if people put a little more thought into it—if they were being intentional about trying stuff out, being more out–there with genre, and showcasing what they actually find interesting. There is a circuit of the same songs that will get picked up as a trend on campus. People just co–opt things because they have worked well in the past. But ultimately, stuff gets burned out. There’s so much music out there—if people were a little braver in making their own vibe and making their own style, it’d be more interesting.
Lightning RoundQuestions:
Describe what a party is in three words.
Sound, light, space.
Worst song request you’ve ever received?
“All Too Well (10 Minute Version)”
Best song request you’ve ever received?
I’ve never had a good song request.
Ex at the same party: leave or stay?
Stay.
Best night to go out?
Friday.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
