Spring Weekend Gone Wrong

Spring Jam weekend at the University of Minnesota did not end very well this year. It is a popular party weekend at the University and extra police officers were scheduled to patrol the off campus houses. On Saturday night 12 students were arrested for unlawful and disorderly conduct. When police officers approached an off campus party they were attacked with bottles, rocks and other objects. The police officers proceeded to use tear gas and foam pellets to clear the crowd which consisted of about 500 students at one point. The students tried to jump on and tip over cars in the street and also start a fire. One junior at the University, Peter Robbins, was shot with a foam pellet but claims to have been taking a picture of the riot, not participating in it. Robbins was shot without warning from a short distance and arrested on spot. No serious injuries were reported, however. The school has since strengthened their code of conduct for off-campus living and the punishments for involved include community service, suspension and expulsion.
Alcohol was certainly a key element in this spring weekend riot, and the riot probably wouldn’t have occurred if alcohol hadn’t been involved. However, when you think about how often large numbers of college student’s party and drink, it makes you wonder what other factors were involved this particular weekend. How much encouragement does a riot of that size take? Were the police officers being peaceful as they approached the house? It makes you wonder. Large groups of people have a collective mind, and in this case also an intoxicated one. Members of this riot most certainly experienced deindividuation: when large groups cause people to act in uninhibited, impulsive, and destructive ways. A snowball type effect takes place—once one student throws a bottle so does the next and the next. This situation happened to be aggravated by alcohol and armed policemen already on edge. It is lucky for everyone that there were no serious injuries.
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