The West Chester University students involved in what erupted into a near riot this past weekend and included terrifying innocent people and destroying private property should be expelled. Period.
The behavior exhibited this past weekend is quite simply put: unacceptable. Who wants that kind of behavior and activity occurring in our county seat only blocks from the Chester County Courthouse? No one.
And if this whole debacle can indeed be tracked back to those “I’m Shmacked” people, here’s hoping the District Attorney is a little bit proactive and finds a way legally to deal with this and hold all accountable who should be held accountable.
In February 2012 I ironically wrote a post about this whole shmacked stupidity. At that point in time the organization “I’m Shmacked” came up in connection with a startling series of events at Lower Merion High School. I had said (at the time) that this was germane to folks in Chester County because basically this nonsense could occur anywhere. I wasn’t trying to be psychic, it is just common sense and here we are.
This Shmacked Movement is this project by Arya Toufanian, 20 (?), of Potomac, Md and Jeffrie “Yofray” Ray, a 2011 graduate of Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, PA . In a nutshell it is like girls gone wild for the college party scene.
Photo from Main Line Media News article http://mainlinemedianews.com/articles/2013/05/05/region/doc51864906d4176970915489.txt
So if “I’m Shmacked” is behind this, enough is enough. What happened over the weekend in the Borough of West Chester could have resulted in serious injuries and even someone getting seriously hurt or killed.
West Chester University needs to do more here than say they will hold students accountable under their honor code or whatever. Those students who are responsible need to be ejected. West Chester Borough has worked too hard to fix up that town and make it attractive to more than those searching for a good kegger. It is admirable that the University is cooperating with police, but they need to do as much as possible to see that nothing like this ever happens again. And quite frankly, unless students responsible get permanently booted from the University who is to say it won’t happen again?
I hate to sound like a Purtian, but this is why no one ever wants off campus college students as neighbors. Let’s get real, no one wants college students to NOT have fun, but fun should not include destroying property and possibly harming others. And parties like this one which turned into essentially a riot in West Chester will follow these kids for a long, long time. And I have to ask at the end of the day is one kegger worth possibly ruining your immediate future over? Is the behavior at this party the same kind of behavior these kids would exhibit in their parents’ homes? I sure hope not.
I am not going to go into the whole hazards of binge drinking, violent drunken behavior in some, or drunk driving. We all watch the news and we know the reality there. Besides, everyone knows when you are the age of most of these college students you feel invincible and untouchable by reality. Well, they felt untouched by reality…I daresay some of them involved were wishing life was a little less real right now.
Sign me tired of exceedingly stupid and destructive behavior related to alcohol. I know I am not the only one – read this post on “From The Editor’s Chair”
Here is selected coverage on this – there is so much I can’t capture it all:
The Daily Local: Motorist describes Walnut Street chaos
By GINGER RAE DUNBAR gdunbar@dailylocal.com
Posted: Tuesday, 05/07/13 12:01 am
WEST CHESTER — A 1993 graduate of West Chester University who asked to remain anonymous said he may stop donating to the university after witnessing Saturday’s wild party on Walnut Street.
“I used to give on occasion to WCU, but I doubt I will anymore,” he said. “There may be a lot of great students, but I didn’t see much care from the hundreds that were around me on what was happening.”
He said he saw the events unravel in the early afternoon as he turned his car into the 400 block of Walnut Street on his way home to East Goshen.
He said he stopped his car and was unable to drive forward with the mass of people in the street. Unsure of what was happening, he said, he was boxed in by all the people surrounding his car.
“It seemed like we (the drivers) might just be there for a bit while the drunk students were milling about,” he said. “It lasted a while with no movement, and then the crowd started to get nasty.”…He said he had heard someone in the crowd say the pole was used to smash a car window. And when he later drove past, he saw a parked car’s window had been broken….In between calls to the 911 dispatcher, he took a photograph. At that point, people were standing on parked cars. While in the center of the crowd, he said, he was “worried if my car was next.”
His 14-year-old daughter was in the car with him, he said, and she was scared, too.
By GINGER RAE DUNBAR
and JIM CALLAHAN
Jcallahan@21centurymedia.com
Published: Sunday, May 05, 2013
WEST CHESTER — Frustrated party guests flipped a car onto its side Saturday afternoon after police broke up a beer blast that organizers were warned not to start. Witnesses said the party was based on a YouTube video called “I’m Shmacked”.
“Booze and education don’t mix,” said West Chester police Lt. William Morris.
Two people were arrested in what Police Chief Scott Bohn described as a “mass disturbance.” In a news release issued Saturday, police classified the incident as a “riot.”….Police said Zachary Geanotes, 19, of Villanova, was charged with riot, criminal mischief, disorderly conduct, furnishing alcohol to minors and underage drinking.
Police said Andrew Derr, 19, of Willow Grove, was charged for failure of disorderly persons to disperse, forgery, underage drinking and carrying a false identification card….The West Chester police were assisted by Westtown East Goshen, West Goshen and West Chester University police as the crowd was dispersed.
‘I’m Shmacked’ Behind Chaos in West Chester, Partygoers Say
ByTom Sunnergren Email the author 5:22 am
“I’m Shmacked,” a production company that specializes in video of teens and college students having wild parties, is being implicated in the near riot that led to a flipped car on S. Walnut Street in West Chester this weekend, Action News reported.
According to Philly.com, “I’m Shmacked” was co-founded by 2011 Lower Merion High School graduate Jeffrie Ray.
NBC10:Caught on Cam: Police Bust Party, Partygoers Flip Over Car
By Danielle Johnson and David Chang
| Monday, May 6, 2013 | Updated 6:53 PM EDT
Police have arrested three people in connection to a wild West Chester party in which guests flipped a car onto its side.
Police were called to a home in the 400 block of South Walnut Street around 12:42 p.m. Saturday after neighbors complained of loud noise. Police say several college students were among the hundreds of people in attendance.
“We saw a cop come maybe a half hour after it started,” said Andrea Lavish, a West Chester student. “I asked, ‘are you going to shut it down?’ She said, ‘I’m not sure yet,’ and she let it continue. Then about 45 minutes later more cops came and shut it down.”