Ohio University Fests: Spring 2011 presents challenge to Students, Senate

To many in Athens, Ohio, spring is synonymous with one thing: fests.

Palmer Fest. Mill Fest. 8fest. High Fest. These so-called “fests” are enough to incite emotion in Athens residents from all walks of life. The spring block parties thrown by Ohio University students have developed into a unique social culture that has never been more controversial.

The raucous nature of the past two “fest” seasons has produced tension within and among students, Ohio administration, and City of Athens officials. A publicly disputed noise ordinance, a history of riotous behavior, and a jam packed party schedule will likely mean that Student Senate will likely spend much of the spring mulling over potential “fest” related issues.

While all of the fests produce some of the misbehavior that is expected with alcohol, Palmer Fest has vaulted to the forefront of public attention in the past two years. Both years the Palmer Street block party ended in flames with police using mace and nightsticks to control resistant masses of students.

Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi, who advises the Student Senate, found himself face-to-face with the consequences after both parties. He spent much of the ensuing Sundays on the phone with angry parents and alumni. Events like Palmer Fest haunt the university’s student body leader.

“When I go to bed (on the night of a fest), “ Lombardi said in a recent interview. “I say to myself ‘I pray that no one dies tonight.’”

The fact that fest season spans over a month provides further complication to the problem. It begins in the latter half of April with events like Ark Fest (behind Stewart Street) and High Fest. The season usually culminates with the number fest (8fest this year) and Mill Fest.

With students actively participating in a myriad of fests over more than half of the quarter, Academic Affairs Vice Commissioner Zach LaFleur believes that a negative effect on classroom performance should be expected no matter how savvy the student partier.

“I do think OU students do a good job of managing their working and partying,” LaFleur said. “The fests, by their very nature, are detrimental to academic performance.”

He added that OU’s fests are notorious for binge drinking and such actions correlate well with less study time. LaFleur did not lay all the blame on OU students, however. He echoed a sentiment that is widely used on campus to explain the reason certain fests go awry.

“Fest season is partially fueled by college students outside of OU who are on the semester system.”

LaFleur and Lombardi both discussed this observation by noting that the rowdiness of fests escalades from Palmer Fest forward. This is generally when visitors from other schools have completed their respective school years. LaFleur added that the 2012 switch to semesters at OU, will likely “water down” the fest season.

OU junior Mallory Kyle believes that the blame is shared between OU students and kids from other schools. She cited a personal anecdote from last year’s Palmer Fest. “About a week after Palmer (Fest) last year I found myself bailing a former high school classmate of mine out of Nelsonville jail,” she said. “So, I definitely think there is some outside contribution to the riots.”

Kyle, who works at Brennen’s on Court Street, also noted the potential positive effect that visitors can have on local businesses. She said that Halloween saw a large influx of business and expected a wave of visitors for spring weekends to have a similar effect.

A growing trend within this fest culture has been Friday fests. In the past, most fests were held from 11 a.m. until about midnight on Saturdays, though rampant misbehavior has been known to end them much sooner. However, in recent years many streets have taken the initiative of creating their own fests on the Fridays leading into major Saturday fests.

Among the major Friday fests are Oak Fest (which leads into Mill Fest) and Palmer Place Fest (which leads into Palmer Fest). Oak Street is the site of Oaktober Fest in the fall, an event that has its fair share of fires in the past.

Palmer Place Fest has been arguably the second wildest fest over the past two years. Held in the enclosed Palmer Place living community, it has a perfect layout for debacle. It dangerously combines a muddy pit full of partiers with other partygoers stationed on balconies overhead in the three-story complex. Similar balconies have been notorious in alcohol related tragedies in the past, and they have also presented the problem of flying beer bottles in the recent past.

The fest craze has even spread to such previously trivial areas as Elliot Street. In 2010, residents attempted to throw an Elliot Fest, but the event was poorly attended due likely to its obscure location within a football field of the Hocking River.

Though the parties are held off campus, the issues are certainly not limited to those areas. Numerous dorm hall residents participate in fest season, and they house visitors as well. This winter a proposal was drawn up to charge residents for such visitors in a fee that would be similar to the one faced at Halloween. That proposal was later shot down.

Residence Life Commissioner Johnny O’Dell oversees the students living in the dorms. With the students he serves being primarily underage, he has some tough assumptions to make when evaluating the potential issues with fest season.

“Well I guess (what Residence life is concerned with is) making sure the residents are responsible,” O’Dell informed. “They are going to drink, but we have to make sure they don’t drive or injure themselves or others.”

The City of Athens responded to the events of last years Palmer Fest by implementing a noise ordinance that has been one of the biggest controversies in the area. Coming into the 2011 fest season, the divide between students and the city is larger than ever.

The Student Senate recently set up a task force (led by John Calhoun) to draft a proposed amendment to the noise ordinance law. The amendment would make citations require a noise complaint instead of being completely up to the city police officer.

The amendment was met with disdain from new Athens police chief Tom Pyle. Pyle called it a “knee-jerk reaction to erroneous assumptions.” OU student newspaper The Post published an editorial in favor of the amendment and denouncing the harshness of Pyle’s remarks.

OU junior Matt Archibald has strong feelings about the noise ordinance based on personal experience. During fall quarter, Archibald was warned and cited in the same night.

“I hate the noise ordinance,” Archibald said. “And it really frustrates me because it was at like 1 a.m. on a Friday. Where I live it’s mostly students, so I know I wasn’t bothering anybody.”

In fact, Archibald lives on West State Street within earshot of several bars on Court Street that close at 2 a.m. Archibald added another comment about the noise ordinance and its potential effect in the spring.

“That being said it shouldn’t be a problem during fests because they are done well before midnight.”

8fest, which is always held a reasonable distance from campus, creates issues that are not seen in general street fests. It is always held on private property in a large, usually muddy area. One of the main problems with 8fest is that it is not within walking distance of dorm halls or off campus housing.

The potential for drunk driving increases with 8fest, and the event ends early in the evening leaving much of its attendees intoxicated in the daylight around Athens. The fest normally has a full day’s slate of musical artists and requires tickets that cost over $20 per student.

This winter the Division of Student Affairs at OU made an announcement that could mitigate the prominence of this year’s 8fest. Popular recording artist B.o.B. will be performing at the Convocation Center the day before 8fest, and the concert should come with a price tag.

When asked if some students will be driven away from 8fest by the B.o.B. event, Student Senate’s Student Activities Commission (SAC) Commissioner Jennifer Crowe said she is optimistic that it will.

“I would hope something like a university-sponsored concert like the one coming up on May 20 would decrease fest involvement,” Crowe wrote in a statement via e-mail. “I hope that this concert really make students question what they want to do that weekend. I hope that a concert like this can happen more often so that a decrease in fest attendance could be noticeable and that both situations (the concerts and decreasing fest attendance) become the norm.”

Given the backlash of the past two fest seasons, the increased awareness from the city and its police chief, and the university sponsored B.o.B. concert, there may be sufficient reason to believe that fest season will be calmer this year.

However, the Student Senate will still approach the fest issues rigorously because it only takes one rowdy fest to set the whole spring into a tailspin. While spring has been synonymous with fests, the students involved have been walking a fine line. For the fest tradition to stay alive at OU and in Athens many think that a calm fest season this year is imperative.

Ultimately, it will be up to the students involved.