We received this letter via email in response to the article we recently posted, An Open Letter to the UMass Amherst Community Regarding Blarney Blowout: A Student’s Perspective, as well as the events that are making headline news across the country. The author, a UMass Alumni from the class of 2011, has six year tenure at UMass, has lived in Amherst since the Fall of 2005 and has full time employment in the community, and wishes to remain anonymous.
You’re all doing it wrong. As a UMass Alumnus who still resides within eye shot of the W.E.B. DuBois library I ask myself “What the hell has happened in recent years?” The UMass I knew and loved had plenty of large scale social gatherings without heavy police intervention and without destruction. I’ve seen UMPD toss a frisbee, play cornhole and throw post patterns at tailgates. I’ve witnessed APD in the center of town just observing the crowds in front of the bars, no guns drawn, no shields on; just everyday people earning a paycheck. I’ve been let off with warnings for rolling stop signs, not having a proper registration and not staying within the double yellow lines.
When did the idea “Let’s launch a half empty Bud Light bottle into a swat line!” ever become socially acceptable? What did that lightpole, trashcan, or porch window ever do to you to deserve its demise? What ever happened to being able to enjoy alcohol, meet new people, have a good time and go about your merry way? The difference between then and now is respect. If you want to be treated as human adults without the fear of rubber pellets or gas canisters then associate yourself with fellow mature students and stop giving fame to the destructive assholes. Cut off your peers who are blackout drunk, make your friend who stole something return it, help fix what you broke or at least donate anonymously with a subject line “sorry I broke this.” Put some accountability back into those who are part of your UMass experience! Did the officer need to have the pellet gun aimed at a crowd that was 30 feet away on N. Pleasant Street? No. Did some of those arrests come out of context? Yes. A good lawyer will get that case dismissed. However, having witnessed a couple people get arrested in front of the Rafters and the Hangar I’m willing to bet a majority of those arrests were warranted.
This should irk anybody who has put in hard work and their hard earned money into an education and I know I speak for other degree holding alums on this one: It’s a total disgrace when non-UMass individuals come up and ask “You weren’t at that party were you?” or “Did you rage that hard when you were at ZooMass?” or even “Good to see you didn’t get arrested this weekend.” If you’re at UMass purely to have a legacy that only consists of “I was the one who launched that beer bottle at the swat officers and didn’t get arrested” I urge you to transfer out and not come back after spring break. Peer to peer actions speak louder than any authoritative message could ever hope for. That one small action creates large ripple effects and I beg you to hold each other to a higher standard.
We are all doing it wrong; Administration, Students, Authorities, Alumni. Power is in the masses. More social change can be brought about by small ripples of accountability from the thousands of students who pass by each other daily in this community than can by rubber pellets, gas canisters, citations, expulsions or town by-laws. I pray that we uphold each other to a higher standard over the coming weeks, months and generations so that we can show the country UMass can be the #1 party school but also be well respected. I hope to see you all in classy fashion at the long awaited tailgates at McGuirk Stadium this fall. Work hard. Play hard. You were. You are. UMass.