Michael,

For the blog…

While Hilary remained unscathed, she did have her first experience with pepper and flash bombs. She took photos and they will go right in her baby book next to the pictures of first steps. There is still a spot in there for her first arrest report.

Jen

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

As most of you have heard, this past Friday night, following the televised NCAA Division I Football Finals, students surged into the Southwest residential area of campus and engaged in extreme uncivil behavior, resulting in damage to property and injury to members of the police force. At the end of this letter, you will find a link to the press release which was distributed related to this event.

While the majority of our students possess the maturity and academic focus appropriate – and required – for a successful career at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, a cohort of approximately 200 students actively engaged in the violence and destruction on December 15th. These students do not have a place on this campus.

I am writing to each of you today to assure you that those students who participated in this riotous behavior will be held accountable for their actions. Following due process, consequences may include loss of fall semester academic record; loss of the fall cost of attendance; permanent documentation of discharge in their file; and expulsion from the University. Where appropriate, students will also be charged with the full replacement cost for destruction of University property.

I am also writing to you, as I have in the past, to ask for your continued help in communicating with your son or daughter. Specifically, please emphasize to your student that while he or she may not have actively engaged in the violent and destructive behavior witnessed last Friday night, the additional presence of students as bystanders exacerbates the situation in two ways: 1) students who are participating in destructive behavior are fueled by the attention of student bystanders and 2) campus law enforcement attempts to apprehend the offenders and mitigate the duration and intensity of the behavior is stymied by the presence of hundreds of bystanders. I appreciate your partnership in discussing these points with your son or daughter.

Again, I write to you knowing that most of our students have been focused on finals and preparing for a well-earned winter break. I did, however, want to touch base with each of you and assure you that we will continue to address any instances of uncivil and destructive behavior swiftly and definitively.

Sincerely,

Michael Gargano, Ed.D.
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life