Off-Campus Party Scene Draws Attention

By Anna Esquibel

As soon as the first police vehicle showed up on Bellomy Street to break up what can only be described as a riot on the Saturday of Welcome Weekend, it was bombarded with multiple containers of liquor that broke upon hitting its windows. Within minutes, 10 other police vehicles were at the scene to end the first night of partying in the Santa Clara school year.

The Santa Clara reviewed Campus Safety Reports from the first two weeks following Welcome Weekend from this year and compared them to last year. Incidents involving alcohol or aggressive student behavior have more than doubled in 2012, from 14 to 36.

And that doesn't even account for all of the commotion that has occurred off campus, according to Director of Campus Safety Services Phil Beltran.

"I think it's a good indicator of what's going on off campus since the students then come back on campus," said Beltran.

This year the partying aspect of that weekend was brought to national attention due to a short segment run by CBS San Francisco News about how residents living near the university "say the party scene has become larger and rowdier than in the past."

 "I would hate for someone to graduate from Santa Clara and then apply for a job and not get it because Santa Clara has a reputation for being a party school," Assistant Dean of off-campus life, Kimberley Gilkey, said. "There is so much more life and excitement going on around campus other than the acts of a few students happening on Friday night."

This year the partying aspect of that weekend was brought to national attention due to a short segment run by CBS San Francisco News about how residents living near the university "say the party scene has become larger and rowdier than in the past."

Senior Trevor Wright, publisher of the popular Santa Clara-based site, Th3Clara.com, also believes that the disruptive behavior during Welcome Weekend does not reflect the Santa Clara student population as a whole.

"I think that it's just a very small group of students who are throwing bottles," said Wright, "but this is not everyone's mentality."

According to the admissions office on Sept. 18 the incoming freshman class had 1,279 enrolled students, which is four students fewer than the previous year. The difference this year is in the activities happening at the parties.

Student Mike McCormick reported that while he was attending an off-campus event last weekend, he found himself in a violent confrontation that resulted in a bloody gash.

"I turned around and he started slashing me," said McCormick.

He said that he did not recognize the attacker from the Santa Clara campus.

Rumors of the altercation have been spreading around campus. "That level of violence isn't something that was common in past years and isn't cohesive with Santa Clara's community attitude," said senior Dani Dhanoa.

The university administration, SCPD and Associated Student Government are working together to spread awareness about the obligation and opportunity students have to foster a better relationship with the community members, according to ASG President, Jenna Saso.

During this first week of school, ASG has taken sign ups for the Educated Partier Program, spoken to the freshman class about being respectful members of the community in accordance with the Student Handbook and conducted an Off-Campus Walkabout in conjunction with the Office of Student Life and SCPD to visit off-campus residences.

"ASG feels that now is a prime opportunity to step in and impact the attitude students have toward our off-campus neighbors, social activities and the SCPD," said Saso.

Despite the efforts of ASG, university administration and SCPD, students continue to partake in off-campus partying that will likely disturb neighbors.
"There have always been complaints from neighbors and responses from the police about partying. This is nothing new," said Gilkey. "If you notice in the CBS video they show clips from a party that is a couple years old, not from this weekend." 

As the assistant director of Leve1 Events, a local event coordinator, Dhanoa and the other members are thinking about ways they can help make events safer and more stable.

"We want to throw Leve1 events that will maximize safety by having security guards and other precautionary measures so students can focus on having fun rather than protecting themselves," Dhanoa said.

Contact Anna Esquibel at aesquibel@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.