Ohio University faculty and staff are not taking any risks during this weekend’s Oak and Mill Fests after a house fire and subsequent riot evacuation halted Palmer Fest hours before its scheduled end.
Resorting to some of OU’s annual Halloween precautions, Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi sent out a campus-wide email Tuesday asking students to volunteer with faculty as members of a “Green Team” to help keep Mill Fest safe.
About 200 volunteers will be paid $50 each in Bobcat Cash for patrolling a four-hour shift Saturday night, Lombardi said.
OU has budgeted $25,000 for this weekend’s fests, but it is unlikely that it will all be spent, said Katie Quaranta, spokeswoman for OU. The money comes out of university reserves.
“We spend upwards of $100,000 for Halloween to keep things safe. If it helps reduce the risk, then it’s worth the cost,” Lombardi said. “I wish we didn’t have to spend it, but it’s worth the price.”
Groups of four volunteers will walk in designated areas sporting an OU staff T-shirt and hat to “serve as community eyes and ears as a conduit to police (if needed),” Lombardi wrote in his email.
The initiative is to send a clear message to show what is expected in the community, said Becky Watts, chief of staff to OU President Roderick McDavis.
“We expect that people who live in the area will demonstrate safe and responsible actions this weekend,” Watts said. “We want to be able to list the responsible students up and help with the unacceptable and dangerous actions of students.”
Lombardi’s expectation of 100 volunteers was doubled, as about 150 students and 50 faculty and staff signed up to patrol the streets for Mill Fest.
“The goal is not to discourage drinking, but to discourage unruly and disturbing behavior,” Lombardi said. “People who are sober and of a clear mind can only help with that.”
The “Green Team” volunteers will be working separately from law enforcement, said Capt. Ralph Harvey of the Athens Police Department.
OU volunteers will not be given police radios to report dangerous or illicit activity, but Harvey says they can contact the police by cell phone.
One of the major selling points for “Green Team” volunteers was the $50 in Bobcat Cash, said Luis Delgadillo, a senior studying Chemical Engineering.
“I was an RA for my sophomore and junior year, so I dealt with a lot of the people and it didn’t seem very difficult,” Delgadillo said. “I’m used to this kind of stuff, and the $50 just sweetened the deal.”
az346610@ohiou.edu
