Vol. 38, No. 18

1-19-2005
By: Joni Bentz Seal

Collaborations result in incident-free Michigan Weekend

Overall, it was a peaceful weekend filled with multiple celebrations. Large numbers of students and guests were outside; there were numerous parties and evidence of considerable drinking. But no major problems, no disruptions and few fires erupted. The weather was warm and pleasant and the mood of the crowds and police was positive.

This was the collective observation of the Student Affairs Support Team that patrolled campus and the University District from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Nov. 20 — Michigan weekend 2004 — and in stark contrast to the events two years earlier, when riots, fires and overturned cars drew national attention to Ohio State.
In that short time, significant efforts have effected a change in culture at the state’s flagship university. Instead of recognition for uprisings, the university has now garnered attention for leading the effort to curb destructive behavior at institutions across the nation.

“It is certainly a team effort,” said Bill Hall, vice president for student affairs. “The most important members of the team are our students — those who took leadership roles, as well as all of those who simply did the right thing. There was also a lot of involvement by people from many university offices, as well as strong cooperation with the city of Columbus and strong support from key leadership, beginning with President Karen Holbrook and including the trustees, the alumni association and others.”

Hall said that the 13 short-term strategies recommended by the Task Force on Preventing Celebratory Riots, convened by Holbrook and Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman in 2002, were primarily to continue or strengthen programs that were already under way, such as Community Ambassadors, joint policing, social norms marketing and clear communication about legal and student judicial consequences.

“The task force report gave these programs additional impetus and structure. It also created a mechanism for better assessment of what works and doesn’t work,” he said, adding that perhaps the most dramatic and effective recommendation was the one to consistently enforce open container laws throughout the University District, which led to the enforcement actions along Lane Avenue and in the Ohio State parking lots and grounds on football Saturdays.

In addition to its presence the night of the game, the Student Affairs Support Team — comprised of 28 staff volunteers with experience and training in dealing with potentially difficult interactions — concluded that a number of other factors contributed to a relatively uneventful Michigan Weekend, including a positive attitude and appropriate celebratory behavior by students; clear and consistent messages to students about expectations; excellent planning and implementation by OSU and Columbus police; multiple outlets that were provided throughout the week for “memorable moments”; and on-going game-day enforcement and community-building efforts.

“Students who recalled the 2002 riots were embarrassed by them and did not wish to have a repeat,” said Barbara Rich, assistant vice president for student affairs, who coordinated many of the off-campus initiatives. “Students also were well aware of and heeded warnings about the consequences of participation in rioting, including the possibility of suspension from the university and the potential for arrest.”

Rich explained that for two weeks prior to the 2004 Michigan game, students received messages by e-mails, posters, Lantern ads, residence hall (and a few classroom) discussions and door-to-door visits in the neighborhood, among other sources, pointing out the negative effects of rioting and the possible consequences of irresponsible or destructive behavior.
She said a number of groups, such as Community Ambassadors, Undergraduate Student Government (USG), the Beat Michigan Week Committee, Ohio Staters, Mortar Board Society, Greek chapters and the Residence Hall Advisory Council, encouraged appropriate celebration through their various constituencies.

Deb Mason, vice president of USG, said its role in helping to instill a new celebratory philosophy was to inform students about the long term effects off-campus disturbances have on their university and their future. “It’s evident that the student profile at Ohio State has changed drastically over the past few years, and our incident-free Michigan Weekend is just one example of this culture shift. As these more mature and focused students continue on in their OSU careers, we hope they will lead this new mindset by example of their respective behavior,” she said.

Hall lauded both the university’s Department of Public Safety and the Columbus Division of Police for the way they planned for and handled the game-day situation.
“The OSU police force’s management of the field at the end of the game resulted in a peaceful crowd on the field that dispersed in about 30 minutes without use of force or attempts to take down the goal posts,” he said, adding that the Columbus police also had a large force out in the neighborhood from Thursday through Saturday night and that officers from both the university and the city, as well as members of the Student Affairs Support Team, were very visible and interacted well with each other and with those encountered on the streets.

Vernon Baisden, assistant vice president and director of public safety, said the coordinated efforts of student affairs, athletics, the Columbus police and several other law enforcement agencies — including the newly initiated University District Enhanced Security Project, which teams university and Columbus police officers in joint neighborhood patrols — has had a large impact on reducing alcohol-influenced safety and security concerns on high-risk weekends.

“The most noticeable results are highlighted by a much improved working relationship between students in general, student government and the university’s public safety officials. Students have taken a positive and active part in managing their post-game activities both on and off campus,” he said.

Mason agreed that the more positive approach by security teams made all the difference this year in preventing negative behavior. “Most students have sincerely appreciated the advice and support of both the administration and area police officers, and a number of students have shared with me their good experiences. This has fostered an attitude where students want to lead by example, and it’s much easier to follow the flow of good behavior. Now, when students act in a disrespectful manner toward our campus or community, they no longer garner the approval of their peers, and without that peer approval, they have no reason to behave inappropriately,” she said.

Rich said the Office of Student Affairs has worked hard to increase the number of late-night and all-night activities on weekends in general, and specifically weekends with the potential for a student disturbance. She said funding provided by the recently instituted Student Activity Fee has helped. Throughout Beat Michigan Week, for example, a number of outlets allowed students to make “memorable moments,” rather than ones they’d prefer to forget.

“The student affairs staff learned from students that many were excited about chances to ‘make a memory’ of some slightly crazy or risqué activity that they could look back on later as ‘what I did for the Michigan game,’” Rich said. “The Beat Michigan Week Committee sponsored several events that allowed students to be in big, noisy crowds and act boisterously — the pillow fight, pep rally, the spirit tunnel, even the unsanctioned ‘Mirror Lake Dip’ the Thursday before the game provided an outlet for those who wanted to be a little bit crazy.”

Ohio State is indeed breathing easier as high-risk weekends and events like Chit Fest and the first warm weekends of spring approach, but the university won’t be letting its guard down anytime soon.

“I think it has been a combination of factors, involving a large number of people who have attacked this problem from several angles, and ultimately, it is the result of a vast majority of our students making good choices,” Hall said.
\0

onCampus Home