Miami University Riot

The Peaceful Beginning

In the late hours of September 15, 2008, and into the morning of September 16, 2008, the students of Miami University launched what started as a peaceful protest against the university president. Initially, a group of roughly 100 students were sitting on the university president's front lawn for not cancelling classes even though city of Oxford (where Miami University is located) was without power due to a wind storm caused by Hurricane Ike.

It Hits the Fan

The group of students grew larger and larger and began to act like wild animals. Needless to say, it was wild. It is rumored that a light pole or two were torn down in the process. With the exponential increase of students the police were called in. Not just campus police, the Oxford city police, state troopers, and other local townships contributed support. There were over 50 police cars and some policemen were equipped with masks and paintball guns (presumably as some primitive form of riot gear). The police took control of the street and were often insulted. The students also threw random objects at the police, sparking responses from the crowd. While media reports stated that there were only 1000 spoiled suburbanites, the number was closer to 3000 . After all, what else could these kids do on a Monday night without power? But it is important to note that even without power the students managed to conserve enough beer to defend their right to not have class under mildly strenuous situations.

The Aftermath

The next morning class resumed. Four students were arrested, but they were dumb. In the end the students learned a very valuable lesson about life. College is sometimes almost tough. In addition to that the students learned that rioting is fun. But they did not learn that riots are dangerous as this riot had no casualties or serious injuries. In many ways this was quite possibly the safest and nicest riot in recorded history.

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