Attacks, Rowdiness Rattling Many at UMass-Amherst

[Lafalum84]

from the front page of the Boston Globe, 2/21/08

"AMHERST - A raucous off-campus house party erupting into a drunken, bloody brawl. Athletes allegedly attacking other partygoers with baseball bats, lacrosse sticks, and bottles. Two students facing attempted murder charges in separate late-night dormitory confrontations that included an alleged rape and a racially charged double stabbing. That's the grim police blotter at UMass-Amherst over just the past three weeks...."

Spate of violence rattles UMass-Amherst campus - The Boston Globe

The second half of the article is all about how UMass administration says things are actually better there than they were a few years ago.

I would really like my state's flagship State U to be a viable option for DD when she starts looking at colleges. But given the notorious lack of funding from the state of Mass for public colleges & universities, and the party-culture at UMass that just doesn't seem to be improving, I don't know that we'll even bother to look there. (I have a college freshman at an LAC, I know that all colleges have drinking, but UMass's situation sounds much worse than "normal" to me).

[Chedva]

This atmosphere is exactly why my d refused to look at UMass Amherst (and I didn't push it). Yes, one can find kids who don't drink or aren't violent, etc. etc., at a school as large as UMass Amherst, you can be at Commonwealth College (the honors program) with like-minded students, and so on. But my d didn't want to fight the prevailing culture, and I didn't blame her.

It's really a shame.

[Lafalum84]

To clarify - I don't mean to bash UMass, I have several friends whose kids go there and I'm sure you can get a great education there. But it just seems like such a shame that a student would have to endure what goes on there to get that education.

[mam1959]

Lalalum - your views are spot on. What is troublesome is not that students at schools like UMass party quite a bit - that happens at most schools - but rather when the degree of partying - and the atmosphere that surrounds it - makes it harder for dedicated students to focus and do their work. Umass (and I have mentioned Maryland as well) is surely a place that one can receive a good education, but it just can't help a student if significant energy has to be expended to avoid distractions.

[jgsurdna]

Ah my good old alma mater. This is just depressing. I can't say it's unique to UMass. The fact that the three incidents mentioned were completely unrelated actually concerns me more. These are serious offenses all within three weeks. What is wrong with these kids? And how damaging is this to UMass' reputation? I have three kids of my own and I would be pretty wary if any of them were looking at UMass right now.

I'm afraid it's time for the administration to crack down. They have tried to do this in the past with lots of protests and legal challenges. I have no objection to the protests or legal challenges, but if students are going to act like animals they better expect to loose either individual freedoms or the value of their degree.

[Marian]

I have a son who is a senior at Maryland -- which also has a bit of a zoo-ish reputation.

Ironically, he has been accepted into a graduate program at UMass-Amherst and will be visiting there a week from now, weather permitting, although I suspect that in the end he is likely to choose a different graduate school out in California.

It is not really necessary to be part of the rowdiness at such places unless you choose to be. One of the better ways to avoid it, if you qualify, is to get into some sort of honors or special-interest program as an entering student and live in one of the special communities provided for such students. The atmosphere in such places is tamer, and if you don't happen to like the requirements/restrictions/focus of the special program, you can always drop out of it eventually -- after you've made some friends with whom you can make pleasant off-campus housing arrangements for future years.

Although my son was not in one of Maryland's elite honors programs, I know kids there now who are (they're friends and former classmates of my freshman daughter, who is at an Ivy, and they're every bit as academic as she is). They don't live in a zoo. They travel in entirely different, and far more civilized, circles. Their Maryland is not the standard Maryland. I suspect that there are kids at UMass who are having similar experiences.

[eastcoastmomma]

Since my son visited and applied in November, I have been reading the UMASS student newspaper online. Chancellor Lombardi left to be President of the LSU system. He took Vice Chancellor Gargano with him. The strike issues from last fall have not been resolved. There seem to be more issues on campus than the reputation of ZooMASS. I don't know if more of UMASS' problems have come to light more since the exodus of administration.
I do know that Admissions is overwhelmed at the number of applications and parts of applications have been "misplaced" even though they were mailed in one envelope.
My son has since changed his mind and has decided that UMASS is not for him. I have to agree. I was impressed with our tour guide and the faculty and staff I met in the Business School. But can the Business School programs outweigh the overall problems on campus?

[mam1959]

Marian - you are correct in that of course you can receive a top education at Maryland if you choose the right crowd to hang with. But it is still a distraction. I was a recruited athlete - recruited by Maryland as well - and went to one of the top 10 USNWR report schools that give athletic scholarships (you can guess which one of the two) not because of its ranking, but rather because as a serious student it was much easier to be integrated into a challenging academic sphere - the distractions, and the probability of finding serious students with a major, major time and fatigue crunch like me - were higher. These zoo schools make for great stories, but one has to wonder how many serious students they turn away, because by and large they are good academic values.

[JeepMOM]

UMASS = ZOOMASS - hasn't changed in years - has had ongoing administrative - financial - student problems that just don't seem to improve - it just continues to flounder. Neither of my kiddos would even consider going there - albiet both would have been eligable for free tuition hahahahaha - that is also a joke cuz the fees are just about 3 times what in-state tuition is and with frequent (even by the semester) increases in tuition/fees - it is sooo mismanaged it - to me - is not worth all the hassles involved in attending.

It is true that the strike issues are not resolved - nor are the RA roblems - or the availability of courses - and yet buildings sit empty - as they are unable to afford the use of them - ooo and don't forget the over subscription of entering freshman and and and..............

UMASS has had 'behavior' problems - the kids just seem to love to party - and get overly excited you might say on a regular basis - not a good idea to be on campus when any team in New England/UMASS wins - yikes.

I know that UMASS does have some good programs - some exceptional ones as well - just not interested in what the culture there offers to the state of confusion uuummm eerrrrrr of MA. It seems to be a real thorn.

I can trash UMASS - I live in MA. Since I have followed what has gone on there over the years - it really ticks me off that because of so many really bad choices by the state - chancelor right on down to the students who attend there - it was not a viable option for either of my kids.

OOO well.

[MADad]

UMass just doesn't understand the landscape. Daughter applied as her safety school, and didn't even get her financial aid offer until April 18 (last year). How do they expect to compete with private schools, who had their act together and got their offers out weeks earlier? Does May 1 mean anything to them?

Also, daughter was a NM finalist, 2300 SAT, etc., and UMass didn't lift a finger to try to 'recruit' and keep talented students in-state. UMass wants to be a Chapel Hill, UVA, or Michigan, but either doesn't understand what that will take, or can't be bothered with the effort.

Have two more kids in HS--neither wants to consider UMass--geez, I wonder why.

[JeepMOM]

Gee MADAD LOL - there have been times that they haven't even gotten acceptances in the mail until mid June - let alone FA offers. It has been quite a mess there for years - I actually can't believe it still stands - but somehow it does.

Every year there are riots of some type there - stuff burned - lots of kids arrested - and the beat goes on. The flagship U just can't be sunk for somehow.

Actually the other UMASS schools - not the Amhurst one - that is where most of the problems are - but the other ones seems to be in better shape for some reason and don't have the raucus reputations that UMASS Amhurst has.

The financial structure of the UMASS $$ system does not lend itself to even attempting to keep our states best and brightest in-state AND to provide a good education at the same time. Most of the best and brightest won't even consider even looking at UMASS - there are sooo many other good opportunities elsewhere - and some out of state possibilities are about the same cost as the instate cost of UMASS.

[midmo]

It is time people started to ask serious questions about why UMass is so mismanaged. My H and I are former employees of the university; we have been gone for a number of years and don't follow the shenanigans too closely, but it seems the problems are worsening. We arrived there as outsiders, not from the northeast or the east coast university world. What we discovered is that UMass is full of administrators and professors who would rather be in Boston or even New Haven. They have accepted positions in Amherst because it allows them to be in relatively close proximity to the coast. Many of them end up spending much of their time and a heck of a lot of psychic energy NOT in Amherst.

In many cases, the paper qualifications of the faculty are superior to those of other mid-ranked public universities; lots of Ivy PhDs, some MIT PhDs, etc. Often these are people who just don't want to leave the east, but they have no actual emotional investment in making Big Public U work. It is pathetic how many live very far from campus. They leave on Friday for the Cape, and are not particularly accessible to students. They don't get involved in fixing the overwhelming problems because, frankly, they don't really care.

Angry about what is happening? You bet. When we finally couldn't take the attitude anymore, we left. Like a lot of others.

Amherst is a great place. The area is wonderful. Many of the undergraduates are very good students, and some go on to great things. I've gone on and on in the past about not using the phrase ZOO Mass because it is so disrespectful to the serious students who are trying to ignore the nonsense, but perhaps the further decline leaves everyone no choice but to be disrespectful.

What a shame. But guess what? No one in power in Boston cares. They are all alums of the private universities and colleges.

[JeepMOM]

^^ SO THAT'S where all the bridge traffic comes from - uuummmmm - ok - we promise to make them go completely around the rotary and back over the bridge - back towards UMASS..........................

[midmo]

^^^That would help. Or sink the boats they store at their second homes.

[JeepMOM]

NNaawwww ^^ we will send them north to Boston - to the place where Bulger wanted his massive multi million dollar windowed Boston office - so they can see where this mess got worse - was bad before Bulger - but he just sent the UMASS system to sink in Boston Harbor - and not in tea either.

OK - heading off to the bridges to check ID's...................