'Where's the party?': Weather, law enforcement stifle Welcome Weekend activity
To those who remember how wild Welcome Weekend used to be, the past two years have been just about unrecognizable.
Taking place Aug. 24-25, Welcome Weekend bridges the gap between the summer and the fall. It's two nights of camaraderie that happens to spill onto the sidewalks of Main Street and the blocks surrounding it.
Just about every recent Central Michigan University graduate has a wild story to share about Welcome Weekend. However, the last two years have been different. For many would-be party-goers who may remember how things used to be, like Macomb County senior Catie McIntosh, it's obvious who the culprit is for the gradual downturn in Welcome Weekend festivities: "The cops."
"It's been fun, but there have been a lot of police around," McIntosh said.
In previous years, the walkways on both sides of Main Street would be filled with so many people, the crowd looked more like a concert than the scattered batch of parties it was. This year, the streets were often barren, save for the occasional squad of no more than a dozen people, which was always matched in size by a team of patrolling officers nearby.
House parties didn't fare much better, as police were quick to break up any group of people showing the slightest sign of growing too big or too loud.
While she sympathizes with the police department's need to maintain order and ensure safety, McIntosh said she feels the police could do a better job of picking their battles and not hassle students who aren't causing problems.
Trying to keep students and the residents of the surrounding community safe is the primary goal of the stricter law enforcement effort, said David VanDyke, public information officer for the Mount Pleasant Police Department. As directed by City Manager Nancy Ridley, the city police are coming down harder on the culture of the 1980s-style wild parties that CMU was once infamous for.
Before the police had a chance to crack down on errant parties Friday, Mother Nature did. A heavy rainstorm stifled most of the party-going mood on Friday, forcing the few gatherings that happened at all to stay holed-up indoors and off of the streets.
Saturday night showed signs of doing proud the Welcome Weekends of old. Shortly after 8 p.m., front porches were crowded with revelers. Fraternity members could be spotted on the sidewalks passing footballs and playing cornhole. Some people even set up wading pools and slip-and-slides. When night fell the signature red-blue flash of police lights illuminated the streets. After 9 p.m. Welcome Weekend became less of the year's largest block party and more of a never-ending game of cat-and-mouse between groups of party-goers and groups of patrolling officers.
The Saturday of Welcome Weekend is a mandatory workday for Mount Pleasant police, VanDyke said, meaning every officer is working in some capacity. The MPPD had almost two-dozen officers patrolling the streets this weekend, not counting additional officers provided by Michigan State Police, Isabella County Sheriff's Department and CMU Police Department.
"The enforcement action that we've been taking over the last couple of years has been a little more intense," VanDyke said. "Parties have shown signs of it not being quite as chaotic."
The downtown difference
Looking up and down the streets that once saw the wildest parties on Welcome Weekend — like Main Street and University Avenue — it would be easy to get the impression that there were more police officers walking the streets than students. While those searching for parties near campus on Saturday might have been disappointed, things picked up the further one traveled north toward downtown Mount Pleasant. As the night went on, lines that in previous years would have been found stretching onto the sidewalk in front of house parties instead formed outside the front door of establishments like The Bird Bar & Grill or around food vendors such as Twin Turbo BBQ.
Many students would find it impossible to venture far downtown without noticing Kalan Hubbard. The 24 year old caught many wandering eyes with his juggling act, which he performed to a mixtape of "electro swing" music.
"(Juggling) is something that's hit-or-miss sometimes, especially with the bar crowd. But I've not had a single bad reaction tonight," Hubbard said.
Originally from Las Cruces, New Mexico, Hubbard lived in Mount Pleasant for five years after his family moved to the area in 2009. Hubbard left Mount Pleasant in 2014, though he moved back about a week ago. It's a temporary stop on a nationwide tour for his juggling act, which will next visit Florida.
"I've been to Welcome Weekends previously, but I think the food trucks and all of the vendors definitely brought a lot to (the event) this year," Hubbard said. "Everybody is having a great time."
Though downtown offered the 21-and-older crowd a respite from police supervision, it wasn't enough to salvage a night that had once promised a back-to-school party like no other.
"Welcome Weekend is fun, but only if you're at the bars," McIntosh said. "If you're not 21, that's not fun. My sister's a freshman. She's not going to be walking around with an open fifth — let her have fun too."
VanDyke anticipates the strict law enforcement will continue in the future, as the city stands in opposition to the once-raucous party culture. The results speak for themselves: 2017 saw the number of arrests and citations for crimes like disorderly conduct, open intoxicants and minor in possession fall by at least 50 percent compared to previous year.
There were a total of 441 calls for service to the MPPD during Welcome Weekend last year, down from 653 in 2016.
"(Students) don't look at the big picture of things, like (families) that have small kids or people who have to get up for work in the morning," VanDyke said. "It's really disruptive for those people. I think students have a hard time realizing how much (partying) impacts those outside areas and the people that aren't CMU students, or aren't in that 'party mood.'"
