Although the Halloween arrest reports show few Ohio University students were involved in the violence, President Robert Glidden said the annual weekend celebration has compromised OU's reputation as a safe, academic institution.
Even though publicity might center on OU Halloween
it is the city's party, so the university has no jurisdiction.
It certainly wouldn't happen were it not for the university students Glidden wrote in an e-mail. But if we were to try to stop it we would have to have the full cooperation of the city administration
the city council
the city police and the sheriff's office and the citizenry of Athens.
One reason for the weekend's violence was the unseasonably warm weather that pushed students outside, Glidden said. Michael Sostarich, vice president for student affairs, has been holding meetings in the student affairs division to find better approaches to the weekend.
Discussions about next year's festivities and preparations have already begun among students, city leaders and university personnel, said Terry Hogan, dean of students.
There may be differences in strategy between the city and university
but there are a range of discussions underway
he said. There may be changes in approach
although it's too early to know what those might be.
Options to the Halloween weekend are few, Glidden said. Policies that the university can regulate, like dormitory guest policies, work well, but the university lacks the authority to restrict off campus guests.
We believe that our students have a lot of respect for the university and wouldn't go trashing it
but that doesn't necessarily hold true for the thousands of others who come here
he said.
While OU's name is consistently linked to the negative events of the weekend, it was not the Court Street party that caused the problems, but the off campus parties through the night, Glidden said.
Although the problems were not on campus property and caused mostly by non-OU students, the OU students are accountable to the code of conduct in all situations, Hogan said.
