MU, CPD remind students of Columbia’s nuisance ordinance as Stop Day approaches
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The University of Missouri is working with the Columbia Police Department to try and prevent students from violating the city's nuisance ordinance during Stop Day this Friday.
Stop Day, or Reading Day, is a decades-old tradition at the University of Missouri that gives students a day off before finals each semester. The day is intended to give students extra time to study and catch up on classwork before finals. However, for many students, it has been used as a day to party.
MU senior Eugene Moses says he has one final presentation to work on, but if he gets it done on Thursday night, he plans to enjoy the day off.
“It’s Stop Day. You are not doing work for most people. I would say the only people doing work... is if they’re a STEM major,” Moses said.
Fellow MU senior Preston Moore offered a similar sentiment.
“(I) graduate in two weeks, so I can’t say I’m going to be studying,” Moore said. “Typically every year they have a party over at East Campus, but there have been some people saying cops are going to shut it down. Which, I don’t really have a problem with. I mean, I’m not a huge partier but I like to have a good time.”
In recent years, some of these parties can cause issues in neighborhoods.
“Last year, we did have an incident on East Campus where we had a lot of students who were creating issues for traffic that was going through East Campus," MU spokesman Christian Basi told ABC 17 News. "We were aware that there were violations of (the) city's nuisance ordinance, that the Columbia Police Department had to actually take some action last year."
The Columbia Police Department has been handing out flyers reminding students of the city’s nuisance ordinance. The ordinance defines a nuisance as “a gathering of 10 or more people on residential property that results in one or more enumerated ordinance violations including but not limited to unlawful possession of alcohol, noise, fighting or obstructing traffic.”
The flyer states that CPD will be enforcing the ordinance this school year and that penalties for not following the ordinance include imprisonment and fines ranging from $500-$4,000.
CPD spokeswoman Jenny Hopper told ABC 17 News through a text message that the department will have more officers patrolling areas near MU's campus on Friday. She added that they have partnered with MUPD and walked through neighborhoods that received more calls last year.
“This year we wanted to remind everyone, our entire campus community of the importance of, first of all making sure you stay in compliance of city ordinances. Nuisance parties are one of those things we don’t want to violate," Basi said. "As well as making sure they understood that, ‘Hey we are at the end of the semester, we know you want to celebrate. We’re really happy everybody has made it through successfully, but it is important that we do whatever we do, whatever actions we take we do so responsibly."
Basi added that the behavior of students on Stop Day could violate the MU Student Conduct Code, even if they are off campus at the time.
“That ranges from a verbal warning all the way to expulsion,” Basi said.
“If you are traveling through an area and you encounter a situation that is potentially hazardous we would encourage you if you are off campus call the Columbia Police Department if you are on campus call MUPD. However, we also want to make sure that everyone who is engaged in any activity on Stop Day whether a student, a faculty or staff member, or a community member to do so responsibly.”
