IUP confronts 'disturbing' party reputation
Joseph Schroeder remembers going to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to party when he was a teenager.
It was an easy place to get beer and have fun, the now-21-year-old pre-law major said.
"IUP has always had a reputation as a party school. There's always been incidents involving alcohol, and there have been a few deaths," Schroeder said.
"It's changing ... but it's always going to be rowdy."
And that change is being driven from the top down. Dr. Tony Atwater, IUP's president since February 2005, is one of the major catalysts for changing the university's party-school image.
Today, Atwater's Commission on Substance Abuse will release a report that is expected to contain two major themes -- enforcement and education -- as a solution to curb what he has called "a disturbing trend" marked by "a pattern of irresponsible behavior by students."
IUP has made headlines a number of times for serious crimes.
For example:
= Franklin "Frank" Leonard, 24, of Arnold, was stabbed to death by Willie V. Copeland IV, 20, of Quakerstown, during off-campus homecoming festivities on Oct. 8. Last week, Copeland was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. The two men were not students.
= On Feb. 10, a sophomore communications major, Jessica Aaron, 21, of Greensburg, was killed off-campus. Her boyfriend -- who was not an IUP student -- has been charged with her murder.
= In 2000 federal authorities broke up a multimillion-dollar Ecstasy and cocaine ring. The same year a Russian exchange student was shot to death in a drug-related robbery.
= Last year, a student died of a heroin and cocaine overdose at his fraternity house; another hanged himself off-campus after drinking heavily. Members of the football team got into a fight at a downtown bar and the entire cheerleading squad was suspended for alcohol-related hazing.
Atwater formed the panel that includes university staff, civic leaders, police, business owners and borough residents last October.
Atwater's "very busy schedule" in the past few weeks prevented him from responding to repeated requests for an interview, the university said.
Overall, the vast majority of the 14,000 students are "good kids who don't do anything wrong," according to William Sutton, chief of Indiana's 21-member police force.
Nestled in the heart of the borough's downtown, IUP's 340-acre campus is a maze of neat brick buildings and tree-lined lawns where students swing backpacks over their shoulders and gather in small groups between classes.
On sunny days they read books on blankets spread on the grass, munch french fries on outdoor patio tables and ride bikes on the streets that weave through the campus.
And at night many head out to fraternity houses, apartments or the crowded bars along Philadelphia Street where lines to get in on weekends stretch out onto the sidewalk and around the corner.
"Alcohol is not the main problem on campus, but it compounds the problem," Sutton said, adding that the lure of parties draws people from surrounding communities.
The university has the largest student population between Pittsburgh and State College.
Sutton compared the annual homecoming weekend to Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans.
"There are an awful lot of people -- a lot of outsiders -- in a very small town, and the theme is alcohol," he said. "We go through it on a nightly basis, but during homecoming, it's just overwhelming."
Last year, the university adopted tough sanctions that can include suspension from student housing and from school for students arrested for alcohol or drug offenses on or off campus.
Some students believe President Atwater is implementing necessary changes. But others claim he's ruining their fun.
"Since he came, there are no specials at bars. The bars stopped the penny draft nights and 5-cent mixed drinks," said Raquel Hudzik, 24, of Pittsburgh, who will graduate in May with a degree in fashion merchandising.
Ken Arthurs, owner of Wolfendale's, a popular bar on Philadelphia Street, said the university has not asked tavern owners to stop serving cheap drinks. However, he said bars in the downtown Indiana group decided to get rid of nickel drink specials to curb excessive drinking.
"Everything in moderation is good," Arthurs said.
A bar owner for 12 years, Arthurs said he worries that alcohol consumption is the target of too much attention, while a more serious problem of drug abuse is being ignored.
Sutton admitted there are drugs in town -- heroin and cocaine -- but said police have little time to engage in lengthy, complex investigations because they are too busy dealing with the day-to-day calls that have their phones ringing off the hook.
Vandalism, disorderly conduct and alcohol-related offenses top the borough's list of less serious crimes, while thefts and assaults make up the majority of the more serious offenses, according to information compiled by the police department.
"Thirty percent to 40 percent of our calls are university-related. If the place would shut down, I could let half of my force go," Sutton said.
As it stands, Sutton says he has too many officers for the borough's 15,000 residents to support, but not enough officers for what they have to deal with.
