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I've tried to bite my tongue on the situation, but this has really been nagging at me and I'm sure it has other people as well.
What has been happening with the Grove is just plain stupid, and what has been portrayed by the media hasn't shed any light. I'm not even a student in Orono anymore but as a former resident of the Grove let me say that there are FAR larger problems at the Grove and elsewhere that need to be dealt with. Instead we have wasted time, money, and valuable resources breaking up parties that would have dispersed themselves in due time.
First, as far as complaints go, I'm sure a majority of these are from surrounding residents that are not college students but working adults or residents in the retirement community. Well, I hate to break it to you, but you live in a college town! Not just a college town either, but a college town home to a formerly ranked top party school in the nation! Just because the school was not ranked this year does not mean that parties now cease to exist. And I hate to break this to you as well, but the partying students aren't going anywhere. The school's attendance grows every year. Soon enough there will be another complex opening to accommodate the larger numbers. There will be more parties, they will be bigger.
As stated in multiple (horrible) articles covering the "near riot" (lol!) conditions in the Grove, it is the LARGEST student housing complex in the area. I believe in the last article I read its said that while having officers patrol the gate this past weekend, and correct me if I'm wrong, they were allowing three guests per resident to enter, which there are 620 of. Let's do the math. That's a lot of people and that was the attempt to "control" the flow! Now back to the complaints of the "raves" of 300-500 students. I won't play dumb; some were Husson students, some were randoms, some may have been invited. Not all of them were "invited" per say by any means. BUT according to the numbers above, they all could have been. Speaking of numbers, there are parties of this caliber quite often. Maybe not of 500 students, but frequently exceeding 100. So I'm left to wonder why only The Grove has been put on blast in comparison to the countless parties occurring in neighboring Orchard Trails, off campus houses, and fraternity houses. I've been to many parties in Orono. The largest hands down was definitely the weekend before classes in 2012 when the Grove first opened. However the others that come to mind were elsewhere. The police knew about them, sometimes even showed up to the scene. We weren't forced to leave and no one was arrested. It varied between "keep it down" and "shut it down by "x" time". What I think is the most outrageous is that parties like this are nothing new. Our parents and people scattered across their generation all partied. I have multiple family members who are alumni of UMaine and the greek life system there. I've heard all about "the old days". Not much has changed since those days either, except that they weren't under the watchful eye of all the media we have access to today. Their parties and what occurred at them weren't broadcasted the next day or immediately as we are able to do today. I'm sure many of you have seen the Vine that was uploaded instantly of the officer being hit by a beer. In fact when I ask these relatives about their glory days I often only get a chuckle and a brief summary something along the lines of "yeah.. we had a little too much fun'', which leaves me to believe their parties were no less large or rowdy. They were only less exposed.
Having been present at the 2012 Grove parties and smaller (inside) parties at the Grove, I've never felt that I was in danger, nor do I feel anyone else was either. Although the idiot skateboarding off of roofs in 2012 was the exception, we were all more than compliant to back up and watch him make an ass of himself as he so pleased. He even stated after his landing that he was "gucci", so no worries and no harm done! As for the parties held by my friends inside their apartments at the Grove; you'd be amazed at how many people you can jam into these buildings. Just ask anyone who has ever attended a Grove party. No one feels in danger, we're all just trying to have a good time with our friends. Further more, I've been at parties where Grove security officers were fully aware of what was going on behind closed doors. Often times they stopped by and said hello to the tenants who lived there or, one time, removed people we didn't want there. Like I said earlier, if it got too loud we were told to be a little quieter or shut it down by a certain time. Grove parties are not full of crazy, police-attacking, drunken hoodlums like these articles make us out to be, and it's sad that that is how we are being portrayed.
Now that all of that is out of the way, there are a few issues with how this is being handled, and what exactly is being handled for that matter. First off, I'd like to say I have the utmost respect for the Orono Police Department. I've had the pleasure and privilege of attending events and workshops with Chief Ewing and his staff. They are a great group of people and they truly understand that we are all just trying to have fun, and would like to let us. The bottom line is that they have to respond to the complaints especially when there are multiple; that is their job. What is NOT (should not be) their job is having to call in other departments to assist, having to have so many officers on overtime duty, and having to babysit the Grove gate to assure the "right" people are entering (this doesn't happen at OT or other properties); I also don't think any of these officers want to be doing this and rightfully so. What I think needs to be done to let them continue to do the job they are not only capable of and deserve to be doing but likely WANT to be doing, is that a compromise needs to be met. First there need to be less complaints, and in order for that to happen the surrounding residents unfortunately just have to get over it. Like I said, you live in a college town of a nationally ranked party school. The school also has high aspirations to keep growing and fully intends to do so; more living accommodations are sure to follow. The partying "hoodlums" aren't going anywhere, and more are coming. And frankly, they outnumber you. Get with it or get out. Second, yes the the students need to give a little too. We have taken more than a mile when we were given an inch. There is no excuse for how many times the pool has been trashed, Grove and personal property has been damaged, and obviously no one needs to be skateboarding off of roofs. As a student body that would like to be allowed to party the way we want, we need to suck it up and prove that we can do it without causing major problems. I also think that OPD and its counterparts need to have a little faith that we are capable of doing so. Parties don't last forever, and the outdoor ones surely won't with the fast approaching cold weather. Most parties at UMaine die down between 1:30 and 2am, and had OPD not broken up the party two weekends ago I'm confident to say that most if not all of the students present would have gone inside a friend's or their own apartment or returned home where they came from by that time. Would there have been more complaints had the party gone on? Yes! Would a plethora of officers from surrounding departments had to have been called in and would that Old Town officer have broken his leg? No! There's the difference.
I forget which article covered it, but because so many officers were being called to the Grove that weekend, no one was able to intercept or even help a person on College Ave who had crashed into multiple cars that night. It's been said in so many articles that safety is the top priority and "anything compromising safety won't be tolerated". I think having so many, what I would consider and copious and unnecessary amount of officers on site that night, compromised not only the safety of the person who crashed their car but whoever else was out there and needed help; not to mention the safety of every officer who was called there. The partiers of the Grove would have seen themselves out eventually as they do at all other parties, safely might I add. We have so many cabs and DD's that run late enough to get everyone home and at the very least nothing is really that far of a walk. The obviously drunk person behind the wheel of that car truly needed help among other people who needed the assistance of an officer that night. Unfortunately that help wasn't available due to overkill, what a shame. In a perfect world, no extra officers would be needed for overtime duty. The Grove security can usually handle things just fine. And if they or any students need further assistance I think that 911 was the first phone number most of us ever learned. Then all of those officers who aren't doing overtime babysitting the Grove could respond to calls where they are truly needed. Crazy how that works. Too logical, right?
Now onto the real problem of The Grove. Believe it or not (you should believe me) it's not the parties! In fact, as a former resident I will assure you that excessive partying was the least of my issues while living there. I was always in close contact with management and others who worked at the desk. The were always happy to help and are great people. The Grove is flawed, and I truly believe it is not their fault. I think this directly falls on the higher ups at Campus Crest that created the annoying, frustrating, and quite frankly useless protocols and policies the staff here at the Orono location unfortunately need to follow. That is why I believe repair requests, smaller complaints, litter problems and things of the like often go long unaddressed or sometimes, never. Hell, I had a neighbor receive an email notifying him that his work order had been fulfilled this August; it was requested last year. Whenever I have needed something, whoever has been working the desk has jumped at the opportunity to help but often can't because of poor ownership and policy. And it's no surprise or coincidence that in regards to ALL complaints about the Grove (mold, parties, living conditions etc.) Campus Crest has continually denied to comment. They know things are bad, I guess we will all have to wait and see what they do about it or if they do anything at all.
So what can be done to solve all of this? a Few things, by all parties involved.
1. Dear officers, have a little faith in us!
We don't want to get hurt just as much as you don't want us to. We just want to get drunk with our friends, just like the rest of the college-attending students across the country. We know how and when to call it quits as well as what does and doesn't cross the line. Of course there will always be some bad apples, but that doesn't mean we all are. And if we do find ourselves faced with danger and in need of you, we will call you! You're not helping anyone by being available to make us leave at 11:30 when we would have eventually left on our own anyway; you're hindering people who may really need your help. We don't need you babysitting us nor do I think you really want to be doing that anyway.
2. Dear students, party on but don't be idiots!
Seriously, prove to everyone that we're not hoodlums, because we're not. We're all twenty-somethings, not toddlers. We don't need to jump on cars, throw property into the pool (don't you want to swim in a clean pool?), and throw your beer at the police like a little baby that doesn't want to take his nap. By all means keep partying, finish that keg stand and turn up the music, rage against the machine or whatever. We're all trying to party here, don't be that asshole that ruins it for everyone else.
3. Dear surrounding residents, chill.
For the love of God you live in a college town. Did you expect us to be quiet every weekend? School is hard, we like to blow off steam on the weekends and rightfully so. You were our age once. Take a breather and remember that please. The Grove is the largest complex in the area. It only makes sense that it will be home to some of the largest parties. Also, if what we're doing frightens or concerns you, do yourself a favor and leave now. Take a look at the "I'm Shmacked" video below (yes, those are parents partying right alongside. If you can't beat em join em, they know!). Those are real party schools, you have it good right now. If UMaine continues to grow at the rate it has been, we won't be far from the numbers that these schools host. That means more parties and bigger ones! Your complaints will slow it down, but you won't stop it.
4. Campus Crest, get your shit together.
Please, just figure it out. Sincerely, every Grove resident ever.
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