Despite the desire to shed Ohio University’s proclaimed party image, administrators did not consider pushing spring break back two weeks to fall during St. Patrick’s Day.
According to administrators and the Ohio University Police Department, St. Patrick’s Day is not typically one of the events that the university is concerned about.
“I don’t think it was really a consideration,” Dean of Students Jenny Hall-Jones said of the placement of spring break. “I think really from a calendaring perspective it was more along the lines of ‘what’s the middle?’ ”
Currently, OU is ranked seventh in the Princeton Review’s list of top party schools; a rating which has been dropping during the past few years.
“This weekend is Mill Fest so we’re already going to be at full staffing for Mill Fest anyway,” OUPD Chief Andrew Powers said. “We’ll respond as needed to wherever the problems may be. We’ll have plenty of people on duty and we will respond as we need to.”
St. Patrick’s Day activities at other universities, such as the University of Dayton and Miami University, typically draw large crowds, similar to the amount of people attracted to OU for Halloween.
Last year, Dayton gained national attention after St. Patrick’s Day celebrations turned into a riot, said Cilla Shindell, director of media relations at the University of Dayton.
“We take it very serious and our entire efforts are to keep our students safe and healthy and encourage them to celebrate responsibly,” Shindell said.
Similar to OU’s policy during Halloween, Dayton takes certain preventative measures to ensure students’ safety.
Among the policies is that students aren’t allowed to have guests in residence halls for the duration of the weekend.
On Wednesday, OU students celebrated Green Beer Day, where local bars dye beer with artificial green coloring.
Students at Miami University celebrate the unofficial holiday the Thursday before spring break, said Claire Wagner, director of university news and communications.
Wagner said that the city of Oxford, where Miami is located, is known for its celebration of Green Beer Day, although the event is “not an activity welcome by the university.”
“(St. Patrick’s Day) hasn’t tended to be an Ohio University thing, but we do keep our eyes and ears out all the time,” Hall-Jones said. “Any kind of high-risk behavior is going to raise a flag and we’re always going to keep our eye on it.”
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