Plus I wanted to give everyone something to work with for their posts. If just Luke and the interns form a core group, then the other characters would essentially have nothing to do in posts unless they were on solo side quests of sorts. It also makes it difficult for me to move the overall narrative forward if everyone is scattered and unfamiliar with each other. 

Hmmm. I have work tonight, but give me some time to think of a different solution and I'll rework my post to avoid forcing everyone together.