Ohio University’s party school reputation, perpetuated every year during spring fest season as the Internet is littered with viral videos and photos of students ripping shots and bonging beers, is still very much intact but also seems to be waning.
The switch from quarters to semesters, the city’s 2009 “nuisance party” ordinance and a more-concerted law enforcement effort could possibly have curtailed OU’s perceived drinking culture, according to previous Post articles.
But that doesn’t mean students have stopped their libatious tendencies.
This year, the Athens County Sheriff’s Office and Athens Police and Ohio University Police departments made a total of 279 arrests during the spring fest season, up from 266 in 2013, according to a previous Post article.
The city’s “nuisance party” ordinance has been enforced more diligently since 2012’s rendition of Palmer Fest, when a fire broke out and Mayor Paul Wiehl declared the area a riot zone. The ordinance allows police officers to shut down parties if partygoers commit one of 14 different crimes, according to a previous Post article.
OU and local officials recently toyed with a possible addition to city law that police officers could invoke to shut down bangers and arrest partiers.
Under the would-be “social host” ordinance, law enforcement could arrest a person of legal drinking age who “negligently” allows an underage person to have or consume alcohol at his or her home.
Both city and school officials have said that there is currently no written proposal and there may never be one, but the prospects of that change didn’t deter students from flooding neighborhoods this past spring.
Each street fest — Milliron Fest, Mill Fest, High Fest, Palmer Place Fest and Palmer Fest — attracts varying numbers of students (Mill and Palmer fests are the largest along city streets), but Number Fest typically draws the biggest crowds. More than 17,000 attendees showed up for 12Fest in April.
Even with tamer crowds and tightened police presence, one 18-year-old out-of-towner told The Post at 12Fest that she thought, “It’s really easy to drink here.”
“18-year-olds can drink easily,” Norwalk resident Maddie Rospert said.
sp317712@ohiou.edu
@_Suhyeonpark
