UD Housing and Residence Life
Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 5:29 PM
Dear ,
As St. Patrick’s Day approaches, our goal is to ensure that you – and all UD students – stay safe and healthy. To do your part in keeping our community strong, we encourage you to make good decisions and consider the potential consequences of your actions. Remember, the choices you make reflect on not only your reputation, but also that of the University, which can ultimately affect the value of your degree.
To help you have a safe weekend and ensure our community continues to be one we are all proud of, we encourage you to:
• Act responsibly. Follow the policies in the student handbook (go.udayton.edu/studenthandbook), including carrying your University ID card at all times, respecting building occupancy limits and making responsible decisions related to alcohol.
• Treat yourself and others with respect. Sexual assaults, physical assaults, vandalism, destruction of property and other violations of our community standards will not be tolerated. If you observe behavior that’s dangerous or concerning, say something – or contact public safety for assistance.
• Follow the law. Behaviors that violate Ohio law, the University’s alcohol policy and/or our community standards can result in criminal charges, fines, educational programs, disciplinary probation or suspension. Loss of your merit scholarships can also result from your first violation.
Please be aware that the guest policy will be fully enforced during the holiday weekend. Should you host guests, you will be held responsible for their actions and could face disciplinary action as a result of their poor conduct.
Everyone at the University is committed to your health and safety and to ensuring that the University’s reputation and the value of your degree continue to remain high. Please make sure you are doing your part, too.
Sincerely,
William M. Fischer, J.D. Christine Schramm
Vice President for Student Development Associate Vice President for Student Development
and Dean of Students
With leprechaun season around the corner, the University of Dayton is taking steps to prepare its students.
The university sent the letter below to students Tuesday, Feb. 24, related to St. Patrick’s Day.
Note this in the first paragraph about expectations and the need for personal responsibility: "We encourage you to make good decisions and consider the potential consequences of your actions. Remember, the choices you make reflect on not only your reputation, but also that of the University, which can ultimately affect the value of your degree."
University spokeswoman Cilla Shindell said the letter is just one of several efforts the school is planning related to the holiday that falls on Monday, March 17.
“All the university’s efforts are aimed at keeping students safe and healthy and making responsible decisions while they are having fun,” she said.
More than 1,000 people were involved in last year’s St. Patrick’s Day riot. Ten police jurisdictions respond to the incident in the student campus housing area. There were broken beer bottles and 11 damaged cars, including a police cruiser.
It was not the first time there had been trouble
This passage comes from a 1999 article by DDN reporter Mark Fisher:
In the late 1980s and early ’90s, alcohol-soaked St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the UD-area student neighborhoods turned ugly, resulting in car fires, sporadic rock-and-bottle-throwing confrontations with police, and 26 student suspensions in four years. The unruliness prompted university officials to change the school’s academic calendar for the next five years from 1994 through 1998 to make sure spring break coincided with mid-March, so students would not be on campus.
Before last year’s incident, it has been more than 20 years since the university had a St. Patrick’s Day “disturbance.”
The university was known as a place for St. Patrick’s Day fun.
The Catholic university topped Bro Bible 2013 top 15 list of "Best College St. Patrick's Day Parties in the U.S."
Bro Bible said the following criteria came into play: “How nationally ‘famous’ is your St. Patrick’s Day party,”
“are there ample pictures or video of a St. Patrick’s Day celebration” and “did your schools’ undergrads/alumni make your case well.”
BroBible, a website that for what it is worth declares itself “the ultimate destination for Bros,” includes testimonials from students and plenty of photo evidence of the Flyer-fueled, green beer-drenched debauchery.
Bro Bible said UD’s student party received far more submissions than any other school on the 2013 list.
Here’s the less inflammatory part of one testimonial that seemingly captured its attention:
"Classes or not, it is guaranteed that the music starts blaring at 4 a.m. with 40's in hand prepping for Tim's to open at 5. After everyone is nice and sauced up, Lowes St in THE GHETTO starts to fill with completely intoxicated patrons dressed in nothing but green. Thousands of your closest friends line the entire street to form the greatest party any school has ever seen. The sea of green, with beer and Jameson being passed around like its some sort of communal stash, parties to the beat of some drunkass bagpiper stumbling the streets in search of liquid gold for payment…." – Branden, Dayton
Exaggeration, reality or a little bit of both?
What do you think? Does UD deserve its St. Paddy's Day party reputation?
Contact this blogger at arobinson@DaytonDailyNews.com or Twitter.com/DDNSmartMouth
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