UConn students partied over weekend

Although college students usually head home Labor Day weekend, University of Connecticut students stayed around this year, celebrated college life and confused local law enforcement personnel.

Mansfield’s Director of Emergency Management John Jackman said students did not head home this year, but, instead, took the long weekend to party.

“History in the past is that most (students) go home for Labor Day,” said Jackman, adding law enforcement personnel did not expect the increase in activity.

Jackman told members of Mansfield’s Town/University Relations Committee Tuesday police were surprised by the amount of foot traffic and congestion near Carriage House Apartments and Celeron Square Apartments.

Both complexes are off-campus housing units where an abundance of UConn students reside.

He said there was so much foot-traffic, safety staff closed off Hunting Lodge Road to vehicular traffic.

“The amount of traffic over Labor Day weekend was more than we are accustomed to seeing,” said Jackman. “And I don’t understand why.”

Jackman said local law enforcement staff can only use past trends to determine which weekends are busy party weekends for university students.

However, they are not always able to predict weekend activities correctly.
“We’re not the party planner,” he said. “We do our best to be predictive.”

Although there was more pedestrian traffic than expected, Jackman said party participants were cooperative and not problematic.

“The problem is in the eye of the beholder in some cases,” he said, adding students walked on the recently paved bikeway instead of walking in the road and did not cause any damage.

Jackman said there were a few noise complaints from residents, but the crowd was overall cooperative.