Anna Grez ’27
Design Editor
On Sept. 18, hundreds of students attended the Motley Coffeehouse’s opening party.
Each semester, the Motley reopens its doors a few weeks into the term. The weeks off allow the beloved coffee shop to hire new baristas, train and retrain staff, and to prepare for the beginning-of-semester rush.
While students patiently await their favorite study space and its familiar – and necessary – caffeine sources, the Motley’s managerial team is hard at work planning the night which marks their return to business.
The Motley opening party has been a part of the coffee shop’s canon for years.
“I don’t have a good idea of how long [the Motley has hosted opening parties,] but definitely more than 10-15 years,” said special product manager Karina Hernandez ’27.
Current seniors may remember “The Motrix” opening party on Sept. 15, 2023. This opening was the first to use a pun on the word “Motley,” based on the archives of the Motley’s Instagram, @motleycoffee. The theme for the opening party of spring 2023 was “Jopening,” inviting students to don a Canadian tuxedo in celebration of opening night. Since “The Motrix,” other Motley opening themes have included “Motburn,” “Motagascar,” “Masc, Mask, Motsquerade,” “Motgun Wedding,” and “Motwrecked.”
Themes are traditionally announced via the Motley’s Instagram a few days before the party. This year, the post described two connecting themes: “MOpen15” – a play on the comedy TV series Pen15 – and “Back 2 Skool.” Posted only 3 days before the event was set to occur, the Instagram announcement stated: “WELCOME TO MOTLEY MIDDLE SCHOOL.” The date and time were also included, but dress inspiration and drink menus were only teased.
The theme idea was pitched to the Motley team by Edith Corrigan Conaty ’29, community engagement manager.
“I was on TikTok and saw an edit of Anna and Maya, [the protagonists of Pen15,] and I was like, ‘Oh my God, this would be so good as the opening theme.’ And then I was like, ‘Wait, ‘MOpen15’ – that’s literally perfect,” said Corrigan Conaty.
The following day, @motleycoffee posted again, this time releasing an Instagram Reel to tease the event. The video was directed by Phoebe Baker ’28, a barista lead at the Motley.
“We don’t always do teaser videos, but they had that idea this year, and I got really excited,” Baker said.
The video begins by zooming in on a fallen sanitary pad on the floor, with the date and time of the MOpen15 party written on the item. Drawing on inspiration from the awkwardness of middle school, the baristas starring in the production wear backwards baseball caps and braces, and a crumpled-up note is thrown at one of the actors to reveal the name of the event.
“One random night, we got [Motley employees to gather at] the Humanities building and then we filmed for an hour, and then I went home and immediately edited it,” said Baker. “I had so much homework that night, but I was like, ‘This is the only thing I can think about.’”
The Motley’s next Instagram post offered outfit inspiration: backpacks, braces, stripes, accessories. Maya and Anna, the leading characters of Pen15, were also suggested as inspirations for the vibe of the event.
“I loved the universality that us baristas had in the awkwardness that middle school embodies,” said Hernandez.
Sept. 18th at 10 PM, the Motley’s doors opened for the first time since May.
The inside of the cafe was decorated from floor to ceiling. A disco ball, hanging shiny decorations, and emoji-shaped balloons glittered above the dance floor. On the walls, decorations DIY’d by the Motley team included a cardboard cutout of Pen15’s Maya and Anna and a large calculator with “80085” typed on its screen. Motley baristas’ own middle school photos were posted by the bar.
The Motley’s primary space was transformed from its typical arrangement of tables, chairs, and comfy sofas. The furniture was pushed to the sides of the room to make space for a large dance floor where students moshed, sang, and partied to middle school classics.
“The theme had a big joke-y element to it, and I feel like that just made it way more relaxed and laid back and unserious. Our decorations were falling off the walls, the paper chains were hitting people’s heads by the middle of the night. I feel like that’s just so middle school core,” said Corigan Conaty.
Being a coffee shop first and foremost, the night’s drinks were highly anticipated, having been announced the previous day on Instagram. A drink committee designed each drink to match the theme.
“We met, and we were just bouncing ideas of random things, and then we came up with the menu [items],” said Baker.
The drink menu drew inspiration from Pen15. The “Creamy Pen15-ade”, a Brazilian limeade topped with special sprinkles, was a favorite. Also offered were “Flymiamibro’s Juul”, a “Miami mint” and mango Italian soda; the “Babyspice666”, a ginger cardamom oat milk latte with cinnamon cold foam; and the “Bloody Maya,” consisting of cherry cranberry soda with strawberry “clots”.
A line of students waiting for drinks wound through the Motley’s lobby and twisted through Seal Court, spanning all the way to the bathrooms at the opposite end of the courtyard at times. Baristas manning the event whipped up the four themed drinks until the bar closed around 11:30 p.m.
Part of Corrgian Conaty’s role as community engagement manager was planning the music for the opening party.
“We wanted the DJs for the opening event to fit with the middle school vibe more and play throwback songs. I felt like it went with the lights and the overall joke of what was going on,” said Corrigan Conaty.
The event had two DJs: DJ luvbug and DJ L3N1. In homage to middle school dances, the music lineup included a fair number of slow songs, including “All of Me,” by John Legend.
“[The DJs] both killed it,” said Corrigan Conaty.
Current four-year students at the 5Cs attended middle school between 2016 and 2022.
[QUOTE ABOUT HOW THIS COULD RESULT IN VERY DIFFERENT VIBES]
Attendees’ outfits drew inspiration from their own middle school styles as well as the theme direction towards the style seen in Pen15, set in 2000. People wore plaid bermuda shorts, T-shirts tied with a hair tie at the waist, polo shirts, and barrettes..
“I wore a Troy Bolton shirt and leggings with long white socks over them and a high ponytail. It was very accurate,” said Baker.
“I was able to wear my signature look, which was leggings under shorts and a graphic tee, so I definitely felt like I was my middle school self again,” said Hernandez.
At 10:55 p.m., the fire alarm went off, despite no fire occurring. People cleared the dance floor and into the already-full Seal Court. Groups meandered to Elm Tree Lawn, avoiding the timer-controlled sprinklers, which went off shortly after the migration. Motley managers called Campus Safety, who disarmed the fire alarms.
At 11:08 p.m., people were permitted to enter the space again. The fire alarm went off one more time shortly after, but with assurance from Campus Safety that it was safe to continue the event, the party restarted. The alarm turned off on its own shortly after.
Despite having to stand in the cold outside of the party for 15 minutes, the opening party quickly regained lost momentum.
“Everyone just went outside and then came back in. It was lowkey cute,” said Baker.
Managers and party-goers alike were excited that the false alarm did not end the party.
“My perception of [people’s return] is that they were having fun, that they did feel welcome in the space. Obviously there are other options for that night. Knowing that they stuck it out, that’s super meaningful for sure,” said Corrigan Conaty.
“The Motley parties are so fun because we get to be in this space in a different context, and we’re not just doing homework or whatever. We are actually having fun. It’s awesome, and I think it’s great that a lot of people stayed because we did put a lot of work into decorating and the drinks and the video. It’s nice to be supported by the rest of Scripps,” said Baker.
At 1:00 a.m., the “MOpen15” ended.
“Everything about the night was so middle school. I was like, ‘If there is something that goes wrong, that’s just so middle school’,” said Corrigan Conaty.
After party-goers left the space, the Motley managerial team took charge of cleaning up. The Motley team spent Saturday, Sept. 19, deep-cleaning the space before the official opening day: Sept. 20.
