Thursday, March 27, 2014

Blarney Blowout: Standing Firm


Enku Gelaye, Chancellor Subbaswamy, VC John Kennedy

The day of the Blarney Blowout 4,000+ students took to the streets of Amherst with alcohol as motivation to do no good.  Enough of them indulged their demons to where the vastly outnumbered Amherst Police Department had no choice but to intervene.  And intervene they did.


On March 11, about 100 students held a protest march from the Student Union to Whitmore to underscore their demand that APD apologize for using sterner methods than saying "pretty please" to disperse the unruly crowds.

Today Enku Gelaye on her first day as permanent VC for Student Affairs, Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and VC for University Relations John Kennedy sat before a crowd of about 60 students for a "public accountability" forum.

 Thousands were invited, few showed up

One student noted the lack of turnout for the event and then proceeded to talk about a prior incident of police brutality when he was arrested for Driving Under the Influence.  Not a great way to gain sympathy.

Another student clearly and succinctly stated, "Students like to get drunk."  He too was not a paragon of potential solutions.  

The Amherst Police apology demand never even came up, and a good portion of the talk about rough police treatment centered on UMPD response during the Red Sox Riot last October and the failed attempt of having a University sanctioned event at Southwest that night.  Which of course went very well right up until the moment the game ended and then quickly degraded into a riot.

UMass Chancellor Subbaswamy did not back down, or even so much as blink, from his stern condemnation issued the day after the Blarney Blowout.  



The Chancellor reminded the group that UMPD is under his direct control but Amherst Police are not.  And they had to make instant decisions, on the ground, without the luxury of time to call him or his staff for consultation.

But he reaffirmed how Amherst town officials are in favor of the extensive study (led by Edward Davis) commissioned by the University which should be completed in two months.   With an action plan that both the University and the town are now sorely motivated to make happen. 

Before the next Blarney Blowout, or whatever new juvenile name they come up with.

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

"This year, in response to the events of last March, police will have an increased presence throughout town and will address any potentially threatening situations swiftly and definitively up to and including arrest.”

A stronger. clearer warning such as "Zero Tolerance" might have been a better message prior to the weekend!

Anonymous said...

Why not just "shoot on sight"? Why not put that on the top of the recruitment literature as well?

When granny got garbled said...

"Why not just..."


Can you provide a picture?


(sans walker, naturally)




-Squeaky Squeaks

Anonymous said...

People are tired of it. The 'Zette has been running stories on it non-stop since Irish Day.

Give it a rest, people.

Anonymous said...

I don't believe a "zero tolerance" policy will do anything. too many kids are out there. they need a place to go that is sectioned off just for them to party, bad as that might sound. I'm not sure there is really a solution to this whole situation

Anonymous said...

The solution is that the university closes all residence halls on that Friday and reopens them on Monday morning.

Anonymous said...

Alas, another year passes by. What was, was. What will be, will be. It may get a new name every few years but the story is still the same. Welcome to living in Amherst. This has been going on for decades.

Anonymous said...

The solution is that the university closes all residence halls on that Friday and reopens them on Monday morning.

That is what they did to create this mess -- spring break used to come earlier a generation ago, and it got moved back to the week of the 17th for a reason...

Anonymous said...

Announce that bars and liquor stores in Amherst will be closed beginning March 1 for a number of days equal to last year's Blowout arrests.

Anonymous said...

Thirty or so years ago many police forces noticed that their duties of being a police officer started to more and more include having to act as a social worker. Industry after industry that has to deal with people has seen their responsibilities increase in a very similar matter. Ask any real estate agent what it was like selling a house twenty years ago and what they have to deal with today. And now colleges must become social workers and surrogate families for students. UMASS has done a good job of trying to deal wiht the issue but frankly it's beyond their scoop and realistically they shouldn't have to be dealing with such things.

The breakdown of the family as we have known it in this country for the last hundred years is a big factor in all that is changing and all that is happening in regards to out of control behavior and a general sense of entitlement.

It will only get worse as we further eliminate social norms related to relationships, marriage, and religion.

Anonymous said...

Why not reinstate drinking on campus? Oh yeh,that's right, then UMass would have to deal with their students drunk behavior

Anonymous said...

Announce that bars and liquor stores in Amherst will be closed beginning March 1 for a number of days equal to last year's Blowout arrests.

Liquors 44 is just across the line in Hadley. Also cheaper.

Anonymous said...

Why not just shut down UMass?