By the time Boston University students stormed Commonwealth Avenue Sunday night, celebrating the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl victory, the BU Police Department was already prepared.
In order to prevent property damage, they barricaded Kenmore Square from pedestrian and vehicular traffic, BUPD Acting Chief Scott Paré said.
Paré said they also sent out extra patrol cars to ensure students could celebrate the victory safely.
Alexander Lustig, a freshman in the Questrom School of Business, said when the Patriots are playing in the Super Bowl, Boston can quickly become chaotic.
“I’m from Boston and a Patriots fan, so the past two Super Bowls the Patriots have been in [were] wild,” he said.
Paré said the university’s police department has previous experiences patrolling the street during big games, and those experiences prepared for this year.
“Large crowds have gotten together there in the past, and damage has been done,” he said. “[Kenmore Square] was closed to prevent any problems and to keep everyone safe.”
Paré said Sunday’s victory celebration was similar to other years the Patriots have won the Super Bowl. The most recent one was two years ago.
“I think [students] were very respectful,” Paré said. “There was no property damage in the area, which was great. It’s great to celebrate as long as it is peaceful and there’s no destruction and there’s no altercations between students or anyone else.”
Michael Moody, a junior in Questrom, said because of policing modifications, the post-game celebration was more contained this year, which took some of the joy out of the celebration for him.
“I went to Kenmore and Boylston [after the game],” he said. “It wasn’t nearly as fun as when the Patriots won in 2015.”
Moody credited the police with controlling the disorderly masses of celebrators.
“The police did a lot better job [this year] at directing people and not letting them get in groups and cheer,” he said.
In addition to the safety measures BUPD took, the Dean of Students office sent out an email to students on Jan. 30, informing students of different Super Bowl-related events happening on campus and safety issues they may encounter.
Katherine Cornetta, assistant to the dean, said emails like these are sent out every time there is a Boston sporting championship.
“The City of Boston does ask that all universities in the area send out some sort of notification,” Cornetta said. “We send [out a notification] because we know Boston Police are going to be taking measures.”
Cornetta said the Dean of Students office takes extra precaution alerting students before sporting events, learning from previous tragedies such as the fatal incident at Emerson College in 2004.
“We need to inform students of [the increased police presence] especially given that Myles [Standish Hall] and Danielsen [Hall] are on the other side of Kenmore Square,” she said.
Cornetta said she is proud of the way BU students handled themselves after the Patriots’ victory.
“Our students were extremely responsible,” Cornetta said. “They were really good citizens and they were really cognizant of their neighbors and they weren’t destructive … it was also exciting that BU students are mature enough to go celebrate something like that responsibly. We all were really proud of how our students held themselves together.”
Students said the post-game atmosphere was as chaotic as the BUPD and DOS had predicted.
Lustig said he watched the game in his friend’s room in Claflin Hall. He said they barely paid attention to the screen and sat doing homework during the game until the last five minutes when the suspense quickly escalated.
“We completely lost it,” he said. “Everyone was so hyped up, we ran outside right away and walked with a ton of people down Commonwealth Ave[nue] and into Boston.”
Claire Tran said even though she has never been a sports fan, she went to the Super Bowl watch party at the George Sherman Union.
“I’m really glad I [went],” Tran, a sophomore in the College of Communication, said. “There was so much energy and excitement in the room when we won. Suddenly everyone jumped up and started cheering.”
Tran said she saw the celebration quickly spread outside as it took to the streets of Boston.
“There were a ton of people running in the streets from all directions and a bunch of cars honking as they drove by,” she said. “A lot of people climbed statues and trees and tried to walk across the pond in Boston Common, but the ice kept breaking.”
