Student Summit on Responsible Student Celebrations

24 September 2003

Editor of The Clock:

This weekend, I had the opportunity to attend the Student Summit on Responsible Student Celebrations at the University of New Hampshire. Big name players in attendance included Syracuse University, Michigan State University, and the University of Ohio. Plymouth State University was the smallest community to be represented at UNH this weekend. Our delegation included members of the Spring Fling Planning Committee, officers from both University and Plymouth Town Police, and advisors from Student Activities. It was a great opportunity for us to share our success story, get a better perspective on national trends, and brainstorm ways to continue being proactive in preventing celebratory violence in the town of Plymouth for years to come.

I write today feeling misrepresented by a syndicated article printed in several New Hampshire newspapers on Sunday morning. I was quoted by a reporter as saying that "I don't think there's a solution." On the contrary, I believe that there are several solutions, unique to each respective campus community. What works for us in Plymouth will not necessarily work for in Durham. UNH has experienced a problem with an NCAA Division I title game; a situation with which Plymouth will never have to deal. I was also quoted in the same article as saying that "by not providing alcohol at (these) events, they've got 2,000 alumni showing up with their kids." This was referencing a story shared by the University of Minnesota about their Frozen Four title game experience against UNH in April. We may have mountains, but I do not live in a cave up in Plymouth. These kind of inconsistencies are frustrating and made me question credibility and intention of the article.

We have found that providing alcohol for those of legal age at our Saturday night event of Spring Fling weekend sets our students up for success in celebrating responsibly. I take a lot of pride in the way our student body responds, year-after-year, to privileges given by our school's administration. Admission to this event is restricted to Plymouth State students and their guests. It would be silly for me to think that this model could be easily applied to UNH. The nature of our event and strategy in providing a consumption area (which is lauded by the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission) at Spring Fling requires us to serve only the Plymouth State community. Something echoed by nearly every campus attending the summit was that the majority of people causing disruption at these events were non-students of the respective institutions. The size of our student body allows us to limit the size of our "sponsored party." A suggestion that UNH limit the size of their community on these weekends in an effort to limit the size of their problem would again be to not understand major differences between the two schools.

I admire student leaders at UNH for coming up with the creative solution of hosting a summit. I will continue to admire student leaders at UNH as they put their creative solutions (many of which were developed this weekend) into action in the coming months. The Plymouth State University student body is committed to supporting any initiative set forth by UNH to deter any future irresponsible celebration. To that end, it is my hope that student leaders at UNH will call on us if and when they anticipate the next potential riot situation. Student leaders at Plymouth State will make the trek to Durham to assist in programming - and we will certainly do it without the condition of whether or not alcohol is served.

Serving alcohol on campus, one night out of the year, was what more students from other schools wanted to engage with me about in conversation this weekend. The conversation continued outside the summit on Saturday morning with Charlie Knuth, University System Student Body (USSB) Representative for UNH, and a reporter. It should be known that I have nothing but the utmost respect for the University of New Hampshire's administration, student leaders, and their unique situation. To that end, I firmly believe that are several initiatives that we can collaborate on as a University System to prevent future injury and embarrassment as a result of inappropriate large group behavior. By continuing to enforce our Plymouth State University "Double Jeopardy" policy off-campus (both in the greater-Plymouth area and specifically at other institutions in New Hampshire), we can contribute to working towards a solution at our state's flagship school.

Sincerely,

Matthew B. WilhelmStudent Body PresidentPlymouth State University

m_wilhelm@mail.plymouth.edu603.535.7146, 603.320.1083