Student Senate hosted a Red Sox event Tues., night in the HUB Fireplace Lounge on Tues., Oct. 14. It was the fourth game of the Red Sox vs. Tampa Bay series.
The seats were full as students gathered together to watch the game. The energy was high as students cheered for the team and enjoyed the excitement of free stuff. Pizza was given out as well as T-shirts which read “A Proud Member of the Red Sox Nation” with “Wicked Awesome” on the back.
The event was held not only to celebrate the Red Sox, but also in interest of student safety. With riots in the past such as the Red Sox World Series Win in 2007, Student Senate is taking precautionary measures for rioting in the future.
The fourth game in the series could have been a potential win for the Red Sox, so the Senate wanted to set up a place where students could view the game as a group in a fun environment.
“It’s a part of the safe celebration,” said Sam Norton, Pemigewasset Hall Representative for the Student Senate. “They set it for this game because it was the fourth game in the series and it could have been a clincher,” Norton added. If the Red Sox had won the first three games of the series, the Tues. night game could have been cause for celebration and possibly even rioting in the event of a win.
The riots in 2007 influenced the creation of a Riot Task force by the Student Senate. Students were informed in an email last year that they would be charged five dollars each to absorb the amount of damages from the World Series riot.
Students were actually not charged this amount separately because of the riots but the student body paid for the repairs out of student government funds. “From last year we could enact that resolution of a Riot Task Force if a threat occurs,” said Student Body President Aly Dethlefs.
Because of this taskforce, it was evident in the results of the Superbowl that students were not on the streets and also not rioting, possibly due in part to the fact that the Patriots did not win. However, the Student Senate wants to decrease the amount of riots that occur in the future. Hosting a fun event with high participation such as the viewing Tues. encourages students to celebrate in a positive way with their peers.
“As far as rioting goes, I don’t think it’s as big of an issue right now if we beat Tampa Bay,” said Student Body Vice President Andrew Lewensohn. “We should think about it more if the Red Sox make it to the World Series,” he supplemented. With the addition of the riotous taskforce, it will be attempted by the Student Senate to keep the rioting to a minimum if the Red Sox are in the World Series.
“This is one of our favorite events to do,” said Student Trustee Gene Martin. “A lot of people come and have a lot of fun.” More of these events will follow in the semester, and hopefully as the Red Sox get closer to the World Series.
“Ideally we will be doing a bunch of these events and I hope people are going to come out and enjoy this event,” Martin said, “Go Sox!” he added.