The 128th Full Moon on the Quad (FMOTQ), a Stanford tradition set to take place on Friday from 11:30 p.m. to 12:15 a.m., will include new activities such as assembling hygiene packages for the local homeless community as well as a glow stick necklace system to help indicate attendees’ level of engagement and improve understanding of consent during the event.

The tradition, the first iteration of which saw senior men giving roses to and exchanging kisses with freshmen women during the first full moon of October, has now grown to include people of all genders and sexual orientations.

Similar to previous years, students will exchange roses, hugs and kisses. However, the Junior Class Cabinet, which is in charge of the event, has implemented the changes in hopes of being more inclusive and demonstrating the importance of consent.

For the first time, attendees will also be required to read a consent sign before entering FMOTQ, Junior Class President David Pantera ’21 wrote in a Medium article about the event.

Alongside this addition, the Junior Class Cabinet will implement a color-coded glow stick necklace system through which students display their level of engagement with the event. Students who are observing the event will wear red necklaces, those who may be open to being hugged wear yellow, and those who may be open to kisses wear green.

“This way, there is no ‘confusion’ in regard to what each attendee is comfortable with nor with the rules and/or definition of consent,” Pantera wrote. “We are pushing the theme of ‘respect the “no”’ this year.”

Pantera wrote that one of the main differences in this year’s FMOTQ is that observers — attendees who go to the event to simply say that they did — will have something to do.

“Many [students] go simply to stand on the perimeter — as physically removed as possible, as to avoid any actual engagement beyond their presence — and just observe so that in classes the next week, as their peers compare their experiences with the event, they are not left out of the comradery,” Pantera wrote.

He admits that as a frosh, he was one of many Stanford students who attended FMOTQ due to a fear of missing out. After pondering the issues that are prevalent in the Bay Area, Pantera decided to address the issue of homelessness through the event.

As a result, Stanford Housing Justice will set up a table where all attendees are welcome to create hygiene packages for the local homeless community and sign up to help distribute these hygiene packages later in the quarter. This way, those students who would usually stand and watch can still engage with the event, Pantera wrote.

Other tables run by the Sexual Assault & Relationship Abuse Office at Stanford, 5-SURE on Foot and Well-Being at Stanford will be in attendance.

Contact Camryn Pak cpak23 ‘at’ stanford.edu.