Canceling Rutgersfest

This past Tuesday, Rutgers president Richard McCormick announced that he has canceled Rutgersfest for the foreseeable future. The annual concert, which has brought bands and performers such as Pitbull and Brand New, came under fire this year for 4 shootings and 11 arrests that occurred off of College Avenue campus in the late-night partying that ensued after the concert. New Brunswick police blamed the concert for attracting unsavory characters from all around and concentrating them in New Brunswick, essentially making College Avenue campus a boiling pot with no release; in essence, it was bound to explode. I find all of these excuses to be absurd.

First, I would like to quote President McCormick’s e-mail that he sent to the student body:
Many streets were congested with people and there were multiple reports of
disruptive conduct. Near the College Avenue campus there were many rowdy
student house parties, incidents of public intoxication, littering, and
vandalism, and several altercations among students and other
individuals. Most disturbing to report, four non-Rutgers people were
shot in three incidents during the course of the evening. The fact that
none of these shootings resulted in life-threatening injuries does not
diminish their violence, and I am gravely concerned about the danger to
our students and our neighbors.

That sounds like any typical Friday night (or even Thursday) at Rutgers, except without the shootings (or at least as many of them). If anyone has ever been to Rutgers on a Friday night, one could find “many rowdy student house parties, incidents of public intoxication, littering, and vandalism, and several altercations among students and other individuals.” Not only that, but people get mugged weekly while drunkenly stumbling around College Avenue. There are only 2 reasons why McCormick is actually canceling Rutgersfest: 1. It has been a terrible year for PR at Rutgers, and 2. Large pressure from the NBPD, who yearly have to deal with large, impossible crowds and large amounts of drunken disorderlies.
While I do understand the need for McCormick to feel that he has to take some sort of drastic action to counter all the negativity that has struck this school over the past 2 semesters, canceling the largest student celebration is not it. Those who were shot, did the shooting, and those who were arrested were all non-Rutgers students.




Shown: People NOT from Rutgers.

Don’t penalize all students for something that is clearly not the fault of the student body. Maybe reforming the concert for students only and having non-students pay a fee to enter would deter some, but obviously the main attraction is partying. As long as there are parties in Rutgers, people from all over are still going to come to this college and act stupidly. Unless McCormick somehow bans alcohol and turns Rutgers dryer than Dick Cheney’s internal organs, then I somehow doubt that people are going to stop coming here to have a good time.
As a reaction to the president’s decision, students have begun several Facebook events, including “Ragefest 2012″ and “Slutgersfest 2012,” among others. It’s obvious that there is not way to stop students from having their fun, so President McCormick, don’t be so strong-handed. We understand that it’s been a tough year for Rutgers; trust me, we’ve all lived through it. It’s enough to drive anyone to an extreme. Just trust me when I say that taking away our biggest privilege is not the way to rectify all problems.