Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Steven Gold
EN 280
Bridgewater State University has been in the news lately, but not in a positive way school
officials would like. There have been multiple incidences on and off campus that have attempted
to show the school in a negative light. Local coverage has been focusing on fistfights,
unauthorized trips out-of-state, and rowdy off-campus parties that have disrupted the neighbors.
Are these events rampant only in Bridgewater, or do they occur at other colleges but are not
Since the Fall semester opened at Bridgewater State University, there have been a few
high-profile incidences that have garnered attention in the local news. The early September trip
with 150 Bridgewater State students to Providence nightclubs (unauthorized by the school), was
the most high-profile. The students rented a few buses and came back at 2AM and three separate
fights ensued. A gun was reportedly drawn in one of the fights, and gunshots were heard later.
Two of the fights had 25 or more people involved, necessitating the campus police to call for
local law enforcement. The other fight involved a non-Bridgewater State student and a 22-year-
old student who was hit in the head with a bottle. The coverage initially was quiet on campus.
Local coverage, mainly in ð , reported the incident on the front page. Local
television reported on the incident and interviewed some oblivious students to the recent activity.
The report made it seem as if the majority of the students did not care what happened, or had no
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clue it happened. Is it true that many Bridgewater State students do not care about their school¶s
problems or reputation?
After talking with some students from Bridgewater State, it can be said that many of the
students did not take issue with the coverage the school has gotten. A lot have not followed the
news about the recent events involving the school. Of the handful of students I asked about the
current events surrounding the school, most admit they don¶t worry about the school¶s
reputation. Paulo Montrond, a senior at Bridgewater State, summed up all the news, ³It doesn¶t
bother me, I just come here for classes.´ It definitely makes a difference for commuters, as
Montrond is, than residents either on or off campus. In those cases, the spotlight is on the
Residents of Bridgewater State have been the focus of the coverage. Whether they are
causing problems in off-campus housing, or going to parties and stumbling back to their dorms,
the news has been about them. In a recent story, neighbors on Burrill Avenue
complained about ³bikini-clad college students´ drinking beer while they lounged in an
inflatable holding signs saying ³honk your horns if you think we¶re sexy.´ According to the
article, one neighbor said ³the horns honked all day.´ The article talked about how
³it¶s been progressively worse the last three years,´ in the town. In another article from ð
, titled, ³University aims to keep students from acting out,´ campus Police Chief
David Tillinghast, said student behavior has been ³no better or worse´ than past years. In many
instances, news coverage depends on previous events, meaning if some incident occurs and gets
news coverage, the school will get more attention from the press moving forward.
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When looking at crime figures at different area colleges, UMass Amherst, Boston
University, UMass Dartmouth, and Bridgewater State, the numbers are similar. For this year,
comparing UMass Dartmouth with Bridgewater State (since they both have similar enrollment
numbers: 9,934 for BSU and 9,080 for UMass Dartmouth), the facts are: UMass Dartmouth has
more instances of reports of property crime (210), burglary (66), theft (141), and assaults (8)
events. It seems the more recent coverage of the problems at Bridgewater State have been
because of the previous problems. For instance, in an October 9, 2010 article in ð
entitled, ³Another black eye for Bridgewater State University,´ reported on an incident that
occurred off-campus involving students who were threatened and property was damaged. The
coverage mentioned it had been the ³third violent BSU-related incident in recent weeks,´ not
To be fair, residents of Bridgewater who live near the school have always dealt with
problems involving the students. In the article from ð titled, ³Bridgewater State
University neighbors say partying worse than ever this year,´ neighbors were interviewed talking
about recent issues involving kids drinking on street corners because they weren¶t let into a
house party, and others trespassing onto their property. They are all problems that residents have
always dealt with. In a college town, there will be disturbances for the neighbors. What was
about the article mentioned was that they brought up the school being a ³dry´ campus as being
one of the problems. Students go outside the school zone to drink and stumble back to their
dorms. One student, who lives on Burrill Avenue, mentioned that Ivy League schools have more
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lenient alcohol policies than Bridgewater State and said ³you have to be realistic,´ regarding an
It is interesting the coverage Bridgewater has gotten recently. While it is true there have
been many issues involving students, they are not really different from what other colleges deal
with. The problems are put on the neighbors and the police and it is one of the issues that are