The Madness of State Patty’s Day

State College police handled roughly 365 calls related to State Patty’s Day. University Police dealt with another 55 calls. This wasn’t your average Saturday.

Penn Live reports that the arrest count doubled from last year, jumping from 80 to 160 arrests. Between 6 pm Friday and 6 pm Sunday, Centre LifeLink EMS responded to 58 calls.

The “End the State Patty’s Day Tradition” Facebook group tried to avoid the madness. Dean Brady and Dean Wormley warned against the irresponsible behavior. Dr. Dennis Shea (GTWMA) protested adamantly, but State Patty’s still happened. And, indeed, it was hardly just Penn State students– friends visiting students and townies came in from all over, some going as far as to rent hotel rooms for the weekend, just to see and participate in the State Patty’s spectacle.

Friends of mine described the downtown scene as “disgusting,” “terrible,” and “just sad.” I saw shamrock-emblazoned drunkards lumbering through my building at noon. I heard stories of vomiting by 3 pm. And I’m sure there are innumerable photo albums on Facebook to document the day’s proceedings.

The Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement issued six citations to bars for selling alcohol to intoxicated customers and another three citations for selling to minors. The owner of the Lion’s Den speculated to the Collegian that we will see a number of temporary shut-downs over the coming weeks as companies get held to these infractions.

Twenty-one people received public drunkenness charges. Police issued 42 citations for disorderly conduct and other 42 citations for underage drinking. Considering the magnitude of the “celebration,” I postulate that police went easy on the students.

State Patty’s Day celebrates excess: excessive alcohol, an excessive timespan in which to drink, excessive amounts of tacky merchandise, and excessive energy due to a lack of football games or similar distractions.

Alongside excess, State Patty’s Day celebrates irresponsibility. However, I sincerely hope that, in the future, students can responsibly celebrate their irresponsibility.

Sam T

Now the Greek system gets to turn around and rub these numbers in the face of the University or anyone else who called them the problem.
Seymour Butz

This embarasses me both as a PSU student and an Irish person.
If you “celebrated” this “holiday” you are a douchebag. Plain and simple.
pszu

cops were out trying to get as many arrests as possible..not surprised
Anonymous

I would say rightfully so.
dd

Yeah, not surprisingly, you blame the cops for doing their jobs. Naturally ,it’s not the students faults. I was visiting from another college on this day and it was absolutely disturbing. I thought it was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever witnessed. It’s not even a real holiday in the first place, and it’s just an excuse to act like a complete douche. I can’t believe people actually think this is “cool” to celebrate. I’m embarrassed to even be a fellow human.
Jh

@dd, what defines an “actual holiday”? A date on a government calendar, worship by a single religion? A focus on our consumer culture? I’m not sure why the fact that State Patty’s Day is not a “legitimate holiday” gets brought up so much
horns.aiff

if this were a football weekend, there wouldn’t be any whining

this is like how the grinch stole christmas, but instead of christmas it’s state patty’s day, and the roast beast is a keg
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Lee

If I were an owner or even employee of a downtown store, I would be livid with Mayor Elizabeth Goreham, who was said in the Collegian to be “horrified that out-of-towners were venturing to State College to celebrate this holiday.”
As a participant and observer, to guess that 2,000 people visited this weekend would be a lowball prediction. Thats 2,000 new wallets ready to be reached into by the community. These kids need to eat, these kids need to buy gas or bus tickets, and some may even have to stay in hotels, as well as buy the requisite green Penn State shirt. State College should embrace the weekend as probably the third biggest for revenue of the second semester, behind THON and Blue-White.
Is excessive drinking ok? no. Does State College need to go out of their way, wasting money and time, to kill it? no. Additional cops are to be expected(which likely are paid for through taxes on additional revenue and parking tickets and meters during the weekend), but to go on a rampage in the media, unnecessary. yes, there are going to be more calls, yes there will be more citations, and yes these numbers will grow year after year as more alumni come back, as more visitors hear of our very own party tradition, and as GSpan continues to allow more undergrads in.
Embrace the Green, enforce the law, but don’t attack the student body for trying to have fun.
Lee

If I were an owner or even employee of a downtown store, I would be livid with Mayor Elizabeth Goreham, who was said in the Collegian to be “horrified that out-of-towners were venturing to State College to celebrate this holiday.” As a participant and observer, to guess that 2,000 people visited this weekend would be a lowball prediction. Thats 2,000 new wallets ready to be reached into by the community. These kids need to eat, these kids need to buy gas or bus tickets, and some may even have to stay in hotels, as well as buy the requisite green Penn State shirt. State College should embrace the weekend as probably the third biggest for revenue of the second semester, behind THON and Blue-White. Is excessive drinking ok? no. Does State College need to go out of their way, wasting money and time, to kill State Patty’s Day? no. Additional cops are to be expected(which likely are paid for through taxes on additional revenue and parking tickets and meters during the weekend), but to go on a rampage in the media, unnecessary. yes, there are going to be more calls, yes there will be more citations, and yes these numbers will grow year after year as more alumni come back, as more visitors hear of our very own party tradition, and as GSpan continues to allow more undergrads in. Embrace the Green, enforce the law, but don’t attack the student body for trying to have fun.
Bob

haha just because there werent official parties doesnt mean that the greeks werent out partying. it was all penn state regardless of what the IFC did or did not regulate