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Past problems haunt SCSU
Recent riots, chaos of yore reignite concern of SCSU community
He saw the cops coming. And when they descended onto Third Avenue South in full riot gear waving night sticks and spraying tear gas, he ran. It was the only thing SCSU alumnus - then student - Gary Amenrud Jr. could think to do on that infamous mid-October night in 1988.
"I remember running and diving into some house," Amenrud said.
In the past, SCSU's homecomings were typified by sporting events, school spirit, campus activities and parties. But homecoming in 1988 was characterized by something else: mob chaos.
"It was a crazy weekend," Amenrud said. "Looking back it was just a bunch of young kids being stupid."
At the time of the disturbances, which took place Friday Oct. 14 and Saturday Oct. 15, 1988, Amenrud was a 19-year-old freshman whose memory of the event has faded with a bit more speed than the scarlet letter the episode left on SCSU.
"I don't think the first night was so bad," Amenrud said. "But then something happened...Saturday it got a lot worse. I remember the streets by Holes Hall...they had set a couch on fire."
An immediate cause of the disturbance has never been established, but Amenrud said that the excessive alcohol consumption and adrenaline proved a volatile combination. The explosive chemical-hormone coupling was further provoked by external influences.
"When alcohol and emotions mix, a lot of pressure builds," Amenrud said. "The police showed up and the pressure just built and built. But it seemed to me there were a lot of out-of-towners there, or that there may have been a rally or something else going on too."
But so far there has been no concrete evidence to support the theory that an outside force may have instigated students' behavior.
St. Cloud Police Department Capt. Sue Stawarski said she couldn't recall if anything else had been going on.
"I was only a dispatcher at the time, so I didn't have the same perspective as officers who were out there," she said.
Recent riots
Fifteen years later, the '88 disturbances are only a hazy memory, and the old strip of party houses, a tar parking lot. Yet there is a new tension brewing in the Southside neighborhood, a culmination of post-move-in day anxiety and the recent Minnesota State University-Mankato riot.
Earlier this month, MSU was the surprise location of the latest Minnesota university riot. In Mankato, it was at an off-campus student apartment complex that two officers encountered more than 200 people drinking and jumping on cars, according to police reports. Damage reports were estimated upwards of $100,000.
About 20 MSU students were charged and 45 people were arrested - one on a third-degree felony charge. Sixteen people were injured. Students initiated a skirmish with the police, which escalated. Some rioters pitched rocks and debris at the law enforcement officials. Police estimated about 3,000 total people were present and 300 were involved with rioting. Four of the 160 officers dispatched were injured.
Too close to home
For some St. Cloud residents and community groups, the disturbance hit a little too close to home.
SCSU junior political science major Aly Olsen didn't understand what the big deal is about.
"It's just homecoming, it's nothing special," Olsen said.
But the Community Partnership for Rights, Respect and Responsibility (CPR3), a concerned group of St. Cloud residents, pressured downtown St. Cloud bars to push back their 8 a.m. Saturday opening this weekend. While no bars have agreed to comply this year, it may prove to be an issue again next year when CPR3 has more time before homecoming commences to present its case.
St. Cloud Police Chief Dennis Ballantine said the fear of a Mankato copy cat riot is not all that has residents concerned. A repeat of move-in day would also be overwhelming. During move-in day, police ticketed or arrested 111 people for 257 violations, 71 of which were SCSU students.
"Residents are just tired of this behavior," Ballantine said. "They have to deal with it not just during homecoming or move-in day, but every week, Thursday, Friday and Saturday."
Amenrud explained that drinking and partying is just a phase most college students go through, but even so, there are certain things to keep in mind.
"It's as simple as being good to each other," Amenrud said. "You'll graduate from the party stage eventually, but be good to each other, follow the golden rule. Then you will be responsible."
As a result of the MSU riot, Rep. Carla Nelson (R-Rochester) said next year she will reintroduce financial aid disqualification legislation that would cut off the financial aid of students convicted of riot-related offenses. Nelson's bill would also force those students to pay out-of-state tuition.
Two other riots that took place in Minnesota over the past 15 years were at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities after Gopher hockey games in 2002 and 2003. Despite efforts to plan more alcohol-free events and the game being played out-of-state, a riot still broke out earlier this year.
"Alcohol-free events don't make a difference," Amenrud said. "[In '88] there were alternatives I could have been doing, I knew that. But I think a majority of kids just want to go out there and whoop it up."
School involvement
This year SCSU is also becoming more active in "policing" students. Ballantine, police chief in Ames, Iowa for 16 years, has seen his share of university chaos and said he is glad SCSU administrators are responding so early on.
"It took three riots ('88, '92, '93) and one murder before Iowa State University got involved," Ballantine said. "I think it's fantastic [SCSU] is getting involved, and the student government president is getting involved. It's extremely important that people are out there to remind kids to stay in line. It's critical."
Amenrud disagreed.
"I don't think the university has a right to police its students," Amenrud said. "They are there to educate, that's what they are paid to do. If a student can keep his grades up, that's all the university should be concerned with."
Amenrud also addressed theories that athletic events are in part to blame for rioting.
"You can't push the blame on sports, or there not being enough non-alcohol related activities, it's just the nature of things," Amenrud said. "Everyone is trying to pass the buck, it's just a cop out. Partying happens and it is always going to be happening as long as there are young people and alcohol."
If it can happen lawfully, the police don't need to be involved, Ballantine said.
"We want everyone to have a fun homecoming, but that is fun within reason," he said. "But if you don't like the law, work to change it. Don't expect the police to not enforce it.
"I think the St. Cloud State kids are good kids, and they have more common sense than to do the stuff they did in Mankato."
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