Anyone driving along Woodland Avenue the Thursday morning of UMD Move-In Day and Bulldog Welcome Week must have felt like they had been dropped right in the middle of the movie "Animal House."
The movie depicts, in part, the college-aged behavior of a group of young men who give new meaning to the word debauchery. Thus the scene on Woodland Avenue, as noted in the News Tribune's Sept. 3 article, "Road to college is a risqué voyage."
True, this type of behavior is nothing new. My husband and I witnessed it a few years back while driving down 21st Avenue East on yet another move-in weekend for University of Minnesota Duluth students. It was not unlike the recent "welcome" to new freshmen that garnered so much attention.
What appeared to be different this time, however (in addition to the newspaper's coverage), was that citizens no longer put up with it.
I disagreed with the student quoted in the article who stated, "Duluth does not like college students." It's not that Duluth doesn't like college students; it is the behaviors of a few that are so difficult to deal with.
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Whether you agree or not, Duluth needs its college students. The economic impact they and their parents provide is immeasurable, and Duluth would not be the city it is without them. They as students bring many positive things to our table.
However, it is now time for the type of behavior exhibited on Woodland Avenue to end.
Lynn Black, the new chancellor at UMD, will bring a new perspective to the campus. Hopefully he will communicate to the student body that a fresh start is needed. UMD has come a long way in communicating that inappropriate behaviors, whether off-campus or on, will not be ignored. But it is clear more needs to be done.
That time is now. UMD can send a clear message to all that change is in the wind. In doing so, we can all begin the new school year with hope that truly a new day has begun.
Beth Post lives in Duluth.
