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With reports of strong winds and up to 3 feet of snow for Boston, students at Boston University organizing a “BU Snowbrawl” on the Charles River Esplanade canceled the event Monday night after reconsidering potential safety concerns.
Snowbrawl was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, according to a now-deleted Facebook page for the event. Organizers spoke with the BU Police Department and Massachusetts State Police Monday, who suggested to cancel the event due to safety and liability reasons for participants, said Hanna Klein, one of the event organizers.
“Upon calling and reviewing the details with [MA State Police], we came to the conclusion that with this storm, it’d just be too dangerous to carry out an event with so many people,” said Klein, a senior in the College of Communication, in an email. “They were totally supportive and helpful, but suggested we cancel and ask attendees to stay home.”
Klein said she decided to plan another Snowbrawl after attending similar events in 2013 and 2014 and having “a blast.” She and fellow organizer, Brian Boman, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, decided to reach out to BUPD and State Police after the first few thousand replies were posted on the Facebook event.
Scott Paré, BUPD’s deputy director of public safety, said he personally did not speak with the organizers of the event, but agrees with their decision to cancel it.
“With these snow conditions, it’s hard to tell where the land stops and the river begins, and my concern would be that some students wouldn’t even know that they’re on the Charles River, which is never safe to go on at anytime,” Paré said. The ice is definitely weak at certain spots, and I’ll be very fearful that one of our students could fall in.”
Sometimes in these conditions, some students wander out onto Storrow Drive, while some cars and emergency vehicles are still on the road, Paré said.
Paré said the name of the event itself, while in good nature, might have had the potential to lead to an uncontrollable situation.
“I’m sure the intention was to go out and have some fun in the snow, but when you add Snowbrawl, it kind of indicates that you’re going go brawl in the snow, and you know how tempers can escalate sometimes, especially with a large group of people and you don’t know each other,” he said.
At a similar event in 2013, a student was taken into custody by BUPD for hitting an officer in the face with a snowball, The Daily Free Press reported on Feb. 11, 2013.
Klein said she was initially saddened to have to cancel the event, but recognized the need to prioritize student safety.
“Our event gained so much traction on social media. By the time we canceled, there were over 4,100 RSVP’s. However, we realized that, out of the safety concerns for everyone involved, it was the best choice to make,” she said.
After the first Facebook event was canceled, another Snowbrawl event page emerged. About 100 people attended the snowball fight on the Esplanade Tuesday afternoon.
Tyler Adams, a freshman in the College of General Studies, said the cancellation of the first event did not prevent him from going outside.
“It’s fun to get out in the cold,” he said. “There’s lots of chunks of ice, but people tend to be kind of governing each other on that and making sure no ones throwing ice at anyone else.”
Nicole Hammond, a sophomore in the Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, said she originally did not plan on going, but went anyway.
“I was dragged by my friends. It was cool to see, but there weren’t that many people here,” she said. “In Canada, we call this spring, so I don’t think the weather’s that bad, but I would be really concerned about getting on the Charles.”
