About 5,000 students flocked to Euclid Avenue in April for the annual MayFest block party. Weeks of safety planning led up to the event with numerous officers from Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety and the Syracuse Police Department on duty. Stop signs were placed at every corner and 3,000 water bottles were distributed to keep students hydrated and safe.

This year, there are no plans yet for extensive safety measures. Plans for the day are up in the air after Eric Spina, SU’s vice chancellor and provost, sent an e-mail to the student body Oct. 23 announcing that classes will be reinstated on the day students plan on celebrating MayFest.

Many students have said they will take a day off to celebrate MayFest regardless of classes,

said Larry Seivert, Student Association president.

‘The issues that come with that are the lack of time to prepare and to plan to provide resources for students,’ he said.

Zach Goldstein and Meredith Taylor, both Euclid residents, said they will both host parties regardless of classes and are concerned about the safety implications that come along with that.

Reinstating classes isn’t a big enough deterrent against MayFest, Goldstein said.

‘It’s going to be up to the students to make sure everything is OK, which can, you know, get a little dicey when everybody’s drunk,’ said Goldstein, a junior entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises major.

Taylor, a junior linguistics and public relations major, said she was excited to live on Euclid this year, especially because of MayFest. Now that there is not a day off, she said she is nervous about what might happen if students choose to party instead of going to class.

‘If the university is turning a blind eye to it, that’s when mistakes and accidents happen,’ Taylor said. ‘I think there should still be increased DPS on that day if kids are going to party because I think it’s better safe than sorry.’

Tony Callisto, chief of SU’s Department of Public Safety, could not be reached for comment, but stated last week that MayFest requires a large DPS presence and the most resources out of any events he’s worked with.

With plans for the day of parties still undecided, DPS will deal with any situations as they arise, Callisto said.

Seivert said he thinks the safety concerns that come without any preparation for the day are significant.

‘We have to think about the effects of underage drinking, the effects of binge drinking,’ Seivert said. ‘We have to think about thousands of students in already crowded streets, traffic implications, and we have to think about different resources such as food and water.’

Shannon Trice, head of SPD’s traffic division, agreed that students in the streets that day are cause for a big safety concern. SPD may step in if that is the case, he said.

‘We’d probably have to move people out of the street, or they would face being arrested or ticketed,’ Trice said. ‘If it came to a point where there were so many people we couldn’t handle it, we would change tactics…we’d probably close down the streets. I don’t know, it depends.’

Regardless of whether or not there are classes, Trice said, students should follow the laws at all times and stay out of the streets.

Sgt. Tom Connellan, of SPD, also said that if this year’s SU Showcase draws a large crowd off campus, police will be on patrol.

‘Of course, if there is a large event, police are going to respond to it,’ Connellan said.

Le Moyne College, only 15 minutes away from SU, celebrates a day off from classes with Dolphy Day each spring. Dolphy Day begins in the early morning hours and offers students a day before finals, complete with entertainment, barbeques, games and other festivities. Students, as well as faculty, staff and administrators, attend the event.

John O’Brien, director of campus security at Le Moyne, said that many people work to keep the day safe and pleasant for students.

‘We’re there with the students; we’re a part of all parts of the day,’ O’Brien said. ‘We have faculty playing softball games with our students.’

Though O’Brien said he could not speak on behalf of SU, he said that Le Moyne values the idea of tradition.

‘I think students would agree there are traditional things that you need to be careful that you don’t end,’ O’Brien said.

Seivert said that although SA’s first goal is student safety, the idea of tradition is also very important.

‘It is our primary goal to make sure students are safe during the day, and it still will be,’ Seivert said. ‘The second is preservation of a student tradition and recognition of a university one.’

mequalte@syr.edu

Published on November 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm