Celebration or riot?

Colleges party down after national sport wins

April 15, 2002

By Marcie Young
Statesman International Editor

Bonfires, looting, pepper spray and riot gear have been common occurrences across the nation lately, but not for reasons most people associate with rioting.

Instead, college sport teams have been winning national championships, and fans have celebrated with vandalism and violence.

At the beginning of the month, the University of Maryland won their first national basketball championship, and large crowds gathered on campus and in the city to celebrate, said Maj. Cathy Atwell, commander of the police services bureau at the university.

About 4,000 people gathered on the campus' fraternity row, where a bonfire was ignited and the flame was fed with furniture and mattresses, Atwell said.

The celebratory riots made national news, focusing on the people who responded to Maryland's win with vandalism and violence, she said. Atwell said the crowd gathered on the fraternity row wasn't a major obstacle for police because most had not been drinking or resorting to destruction beyond mattress burning.

Problematic situations started arising when the crowds started pouring out of bars located near campus, she said.

"People coming out of the bars had been drinking, and that's where the problems were," Atwell said.

These people congregated in the streets outside local bars, with some throwing bottles among other things at police. Police responded to the attacks with riot gear and pepper spray, Atwell said.

Although university officers were not armed with pepper spray, other squads were and used their resources to break up the crowd. Not unlike the student athletes, campus police departments had to train for the night of the big game, as well.

University of Maryland police teamed up with other police forces a week before the event to prepare for Maryland's expected NCAA basketball win April 1, Atwell said. Between the university police and the other local departments, the campus and surrounding areas were suited with more than 100 officers and an additional 20 mounted officers.

Even with the support of six departments on campus and in the city of College Park, five police cruisers were damaged by the celebrants. Two belonged to the university police and three were cars owned by the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office.

Although the University of Maryland police arrested eight people in all, Atwell said none were students. Between the six departments involved, only three Maryland students were arrested and charges were dropped in all three cases.

Even through much of the crowd participating in violence and destruction were not students, Atwell said Maryland reputations were still harmed.

"It taints people's image of the institution and makes the community bitter against the students whether they participated or not," she said.

Howard Clery III, executive director of Security on Campus Inc., agreed and said, "It's an embarrassment to [the students] because it's a reflection of their school ... It still rubs off on you a little bit even if you weren't involved."

Just because thousands gathered to celebrate the Terrapin's win, Tommy Ventre, a senior at Maryland, said many of the celebrants weren't even students. In addition, Ventre acknowledged a "vocal outcry from students against the behavior."

He said the majority of students think the destructive celebrations are ridiculous.

"I'm not sure what the connection is between winning and getting angry. In my experience, winning has always been a cause for joy and happiness, not anger and violence," he said. "I'm not sure what these people are trying to say or express when they behave like that."

Atwell said Maryland has great achievements in sports and academics, but it is celebratory riots that get the campus on the news.

But celebrations like Maryland's aren't limited to Maryland alone, Atwell said.

"This is a national phenomenon ... some campuses have almost been burnt to the ground," she said.

The most recent campus celebration resulting in looting and bonfires was in response to the University of Minnesota, St. Paul, hockey win for the national title on April 6.

With less than a week separating the Maryland and Minnesota celebrations, Steve Johnson, captain of the University of Minnesota Police Department, said Minnesota campus police only made one arrest the night of the game.

Other agencies, including the Minneapolis Police Department, made between 25 and 27 arrests.

Like Maryland police, Minnesota police forces were ready for a celebration after the game, which was held off-campus in a downtown St. Paul rink.

"St. Paul police were well-organized and ready for the championship game and any celebrations that came afterward," Johnson said.

Johnson said officers in his department prepared for the celebration by making their presence known to students and other celebrants by doing more rounds and being more visible than usual.

Even with the preparation, Johnson said windows were broken and quite a few cars were damaged, including one belonging to the University of Minnesota police.

Like Maryland, many people gathered on Minnesota's fraternity row and in "dinky town," where many of the student bars are located.

Although there was significant vandalism near the Minnesota campus, Johnson said he didn't want to minimize the result of the celebration. He also said he doesn't like to use the term "riot" in a situation like this.

"I'm not calling it a riot because I reserve the term, 'riot' for a much more serious event," he said.

Johnson said University of Minnesota police, in addition to looking at police tapes, are pursuing additional charges from people identified on video and from witness reports.

In addition to the threat of vandalism, a major concern across the nation is safety.

"How do you get the word out that it's not even safe to be a spectator at these things?" Johnson said.

Although Clery — who started Security on Campus Inc., to bring attention to safety issues on college campuses — said he didn't have an answer to Johnson's question, he said these celebratory riots may be minimized by limiting access to alcohol, especially to those underage.

Even though celebratory riots like these seem to be a new trend across the nation, Clery said students understand their personal safety is at risk when these celebrations occur.

"I think [students] do expect to be safe on campus, but I don't think enough is being done," he said.

Schools, including Indiana, the University of Northern Colorado, Kent State, Ohio State and the University of New Hampshire, among others, are on the list of colleges where celebrants have resorted to destructive behavior in the last year.


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