Brock officials are roundly criticizing the behaviour of a small portion of its student population, after a street party in a residential St. Catharines neighbourhood on Friday resulted in complaints about noise, drunkenness and littering.

A large group of revellers, which included an unknown number of Brock students, gathered in the afternoon on Jacobsen Avenue near the Pen Centre for a St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The gathering was eventually shut down by Niagara Regional Police later in the day.

The University is aware of the situation and is co-operating with an investigation by the NRPS. In addition, a group of student and staff volunteers went to the area Saturday morning to help clean up garbage left on the street.

University officials are also committed to meeting with the City of St. Catharines and the NRPS in the coming weeks to discuss how this type of incident can be prevented in the future.

Interim University President Tom Traves said the Friday incident was inexcusable, and does not reflect the community participation and support shown by thousands of Brock students and staff through the course of the year.

“These deplorable actions do not reflect Brock University’s culture or values,” said Traves, “and this group, both from Brock and elsewhere, does not represent our student population of almost 19,000.”

In the days leading up to St. Patrick’s Day, Brock staff canvased numerous high-density student residential areas to remind students about the importance of being responsible citizens, and to hand out garbage bags and tags, responsible drinking guides, taxi numbers and other information.

Brock also worked with the NRPS to have extra officers on hand both on campus and in these neighbourhoods.

“On behalf of the Brock University Students’ Union, we would like to apologize for what took place Friday,” said Curtis Gadula, Director of Student Life and Communications for BUSU. “We pride ourselves on the many students who give so much back to our community, and we find it embarrassing that students were involved in this incident.”

Staff and students from Brock University worked to clean yards and sidewalks near the Pen Centre Saturday, March 18.