Why Off-Campus Parties Can Cause On-Campus Headaches
It all started on a typical Friday night in the University Heights: four kegs of Busch, red plastic cups, and fliers slipped under dorm room doors proclaiming “top shelf liquor” at 204 Winspear Ave.
Five dollars at the door bought guys a cup, access to the keg, and an “x” in black ink on the back of the hand to identify those who had already paid. Girls paid three bucks. By midnight, senior engineering major Sean Murphy and his housemates had collected over $500 in cash, a prize for taking on the risk of throwing a party where “underage” and “alcohol” were likely to cross paths.
According to Murphy, about a half hour into the party officers from the Buffalo Police Department arrived at the house and told him that his party was under control, and to keep it that way. Later that evening University at Buffalo Public Safety officers arrived to break up the party. Murphy claims the officers cited neighbors’ complaints as the reason for their return.
“They came in a broke up the party,” Murphy said. “[The officers] didn’t really say anything, just came in and took our licenses.” He said the police gave he and his housemates a number to call in order to set up a meeting with members of the Student Wide Judiciary (SWJ), where they would eventually receive 40 community service hours as punishment. Two days later campus police officers returned with a notice that Murphy and four of his housemates had been suspended from the university.
Murphy knew there was a chance the police would show up to ruin his party. What he didn’t expect was that it would be the long arm of the university knocking on his door, stepping off campus to spoil the fun at a house he thought was out of UB’s reach.
“We’re not on campus,” Murphy wondered. “How do they have a right to come to our house?”
The officers broke up the party because of a UB policy designed to use university disciplinary measures to punish students for off campus offenses. With rising national concern about the drinking habits of college students, university policymakers have had to balance the students’ desire for independence with their safety, in addition to keeping UB’s community image intact.
‘The UB Flag Travels With You’
If Murphy had read UB’s rules and regulations, he would have found a clue to his predicament. They state that “in cases which occur off campus, the university may be concerned with the incidents which, by their nature adversely affect the university’s educational mission.”
According to John Grela, Director of UB Public Safety, campus police have secondary jurisdiction in off campus matters, meaning that they can act if an on campus investigation leads them into the surrounding area, or if it is in conjunction with local law enforcement.
“Anytime we have problems with university housing and students we let campus police know,” said Chief Mark Antonio of the Buffalo Police Department. “[University] punishment is better than the punishment in city court. When we get involved, more times than not someone ends up getting arrested.” Often, UB officers monitor the city’s police radio channels, and accompany city officers to the scene when they feel it is necessary.
“We’re there for health, safety, welfare, and the maintenance of public order,” said Grela of police raids on student parties.
From an administrative perspective, however, there are other concerns. Arrests and community complaints against students could be a black eye for the university; using SWJ disciplinary procedures allows them to handle the problem internally.
“The UB flag travels with you,” even off campus, said Dennis Black, Vice President for Student Affairs.
Black said that if there is evidence that a student is disrupting the community, the university has to analyze “to what degree did that impact the university,” and then act accordingly.
‘Leave Us Alone’
Not surprisingly, students, who were under the impression they left their parents back home, generally were antagonistic to UB’s involvement in their off campus affairs.
“On campus, the university has to maintain law and order,” said Anthony Burgio, president of the undergraduate Student Association (SA). “Off campus, these are people’s private homes.”
“I think they should just leave us alone,” said Jason Fuller, a UB student and member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
“I don’t think it’s right that campus police can get involved with situations at your own house,” said Jessica Marshall, a junior Psychology major. “It’s too big of a university to claim that you’re watching what everyone’s doing.”
Between a Rock and a Hard Place
With students pressing for autonomy on one side, and national studies showing the yearly alcohol-related death toll of college students in the thousands, UB officials find themselves in a tough spot. They have to balance the entertainment of the college experience, which many students define as an alcoholic rite of passage, with the safety of the young people in their charge.
“It is a tough spot,” said Public Safety Director Grela. “But the negatives are far outweighed by the positives.”
He pointed to recent incidents of off campus partying that resulted in the death or injury of students. In one Michigan State case, an intoxicated girl fell off the balcony of her friend’s apartment to her death. Another party in the Chicago area saw the collapse of an attached deck where about one hundred students were enjoying themselves.
“I would hate to see that happen,” Grela said. “That’s why we’re [breaking up those parties]—we care.”
“Yeah, we’re the police, but we’re here to help,” he added. “The students may not think that way, but we’re all part of the university and we want to make sure everyone’s safe.”
Dawn Whited sits on the Problem Properties Task Force (PPTF), a joint university and Buffalo municipal coalition that mediates and sets policy regarding off campus partying. She acts as a “middle man” between community organizations and students.
“It’s not just ‘Let’s go get off campus students because they’re being disruptive’—that’s actually a small part of what we do,” she said.
The PPTF helps to protect students from negligent landlords, involves students in community outreach programs, and generally looks out for the welfare of the off campus community.
“I think the university has a responsibility to its students,” said Whited, because no matter if they are acting positively or negatively, “students are always representing their university in the community.”
“When you’re going out on a Friday night, you’re not thinking you’re going to get arrested,” Whited said, so she “gently reminds” students that underage drinking is illegal, and tells them how an arrest would affect their college career.
Both university and law enforcement personnel maintain that parties like Murphy’s aren’t targeted because there are students present, but they receive a lot of attention from the PPTF, said Whited, because of overcapacity issues, fire code violations, and the complaints of permanent residents in the area.
Grela affirmed this concern, “If you have 150 people in an attic with no exits but the third floor windows and a fire breaks out, you’re going to have a tragedy.”
He said that if students are at a party where conditions look dangerous or it looks like someone has had too much to drink, the best thing to do is call the police.
Students may be scared to call because of the possibility that they will be arrested, Grela said.
“I would rather have an investigation for a minor violation like alcohol, because if the person dies it may turn into a criminal negligent homicide, or a manslaughter case,” he said. “I have no leeway in those types of cases, and they have to face the full letter of the law.”
‘We Have To Enforce the Law’
“I know [drinking] is a rite of passage,” said Grela. “I remember the good times I had in college, but we looked out for one another, and I wish there was more of that today.”
Students like Murphy will have to be content with quietly cursing the university’s off campus rules violation policy, as the administration doesn’t seem likely to change its stance.
The officers responsible for actually carrying out the university’s policy acknowledge students’ desires to have fun, but their main concern is the welfare of the students whose parties they’re interrupting. Also, it’s their job.
“We were all young once, we try being nice,” said Buffalo Police official Antonio. “But there are times we have to enforce the law.”
