Zeke party shut down, town resident arrested

Police arrested Perth Earl, a town resident, on March 8 on charges of criminal trespassing after he confronted Oberlin College (OC) Security and threatened them with a BB gun at a Zechial House party.

Area Coordinator Holly Morgan decided to shut the party down due to problems with underage drinking among both students and non-students. While party-goers were being asked to leave some arguments developed outside of the house, according to Zechiel Staff Resident Mike Brown.

Brown said he did not think the underage drinking at Zeke was any more wide-spread than at other on-campus parties, if it was even equivalent. "From going to Keep and Harkenss parties I see more underage drinking there than there was at Zeke," he said.

Dean of Student Life and Services Charlene Cole-Newkirk said it was her understanding that underage drinking was not the issue of concern at the Zeke party.

Brown said the police seemed primarily interested in the incident with Earl, rather than underage drinking.

Police Chief Robert Jones said Earl originally became upset when he tried to leave and couldn't find his leather jacket at the party. Party organizers removed him from the building when he confronted College Security, which was responding to a call from someone at the party concerning Earl's behavior. Earl then displayed a BB gun he had and threatened security.

Director of Security Keith James said, "It became at that time a situation that was a little threatening for an Oberlin College Safety and Security officer to handle." The Oberlin Police were called and subsequently arrested Earl for criminal trespassing. Earl had already been issued a no trespass letter by the College. He was later released.

The College issues no trespass letters to individuals who are not part of the campus community if they threaten campus community members. Earl was issued the letter in 1993 after he had been caught stealing a bicycle.

Security's main concern, James said, is to keep the campus safe. "If anyone threatens that security, we try to protect the community from that type of predator."

Cole-Newkirk has a similar concern. "I have a lot of concern about town-gown relations because of the number of fights," she said. "I am just really concerned as dean that someone might get hurt."

Another non-Oberlin student, Ivan Allen, was arrested after he scraped a car as he was leaving the Zechiel party. He got into an argument with the owner of the car, Jones said, but the matter is still under investigation.

Harkness House had a party the same night where Yeworkwha Belachew, assistant dean of Residential Life, and a security officer walked through on a routine check and were concerned that there might be underage drinking going on. There was confusion between those checking identification at the door and the bartenders over which stamp indicated underage students.

Sophomore Josh Raisler-Cohn, Housing Loose Ends Coordinator of Harkness, said he didn't know if it was true whether underage students were drinking or not. "There was a lot of confusion over which stamp was which," Raisler-Cohn said.

Belachew said she would shut down the Harkness party if the underage drinking continued, said Conservatory sophomore Campbell MacDonald, who was one of the party coordinators. He said Belachew said there were too many people at the party who didn't hold Oberlin College identification.

"I didn't see that. It wasn't apparent to me," MacDonald said.

Belachew was unavailable for comment this week.

James and other security officers came to Harkness as part of a routine patrol when they saw students moving off-campus with open containers of alcohol and decided it would be a good idea to caution them.

James said he asked the people running Harkness to contain the people drinking because having open containers of alcohol is illegal, and a more serious violation of the law if that individual is underage.

James said that the message Security is trying to send is not an incriminating one, but one of caution.

"I would like to see officers, while they patrol, to be part of the party and interact with students in a different setting," James said. "One of the biggest disadvantages of the security department is that students feel uncomfortable when [Security] shows up. It's a fine line to balance," James said. "Like being a parent. We're not there to damage [someone's] future, but [to foster] a caring interaction."

"Traditionally, an individual is issued a no trespass letter if [s/he was] in violation of campus policy and not an Oberlin community member," James said. He clarified that the violation had to be "serious or significant" and was considered to be dangerous if there was a physical threat to an Oberlin community member.

Security is in the process of reviewing how the letters are issued and who should remain on the current list. The process was started long before James took office in August. James said security presently handles each incident on a case-by-case basis.