Wooster Riot

OK so I went to this little, liberal arts, division III school in Wooster, Ohio. Not much happens in Wooster. But, on Valentine's Day, 3 students were arrested and, from what I hear, one was tazered after the Wooster police and campus security blew a college tradition way out of proportion. You can read the story of their arrests here.

One of the main academic buildings on campus is called Kauke. At its center, is Kauke Arch. Students pass through the Arch during graduation...it's a special landmark. There is a tradition that if the arch can be filled with snow, then the school will have to cancel classes. So, every year, students gather together and use buckets and trash cans to try to fill the arch with as much snow as possible. The task lasts well into the night. Somehow the students never seem to get cold....go figure. Explanation of the tradition can be found here.

Apparently, on Wednesday night, students were gathered, filling the arch per usual, and campus security, unaware of the tradition (which makes no sense to me) decided there was a riot going on and called the Wooster city police and the state highway patrol. So the officers treat the incident like a riot, barricading students away and brandishing stun guns. I can imagine the scene...and oh, it makes me wish I were in college again.

Many of the students youtube'd the incident after they video'd it with their cell phones. (In fact, you can hear the Wooster bagpipers serenading the event in the background...AWESOME!) After the police came out and tried to disperse the crowd, the dean of students came and basically said campus security screwed up by calling the Wooster police. The students cheered and all was well.

Except for the students who were arrested. Hopefully, they've contacted a good lawyer, perhaps an alum ;-) (I can't believe that was my first thought after I heard about this whole incident...law school has tainted me forever)


(In this video, you can actually hear the bagpipers in the background)