Early last Sunday morning on Crosby street in Orono, four University of Maine students, Summer Blaisdell, Charles Carroll, Marcus Paes and Braeden Cunningham violently assaulted a local Orono man in his own front yard. The man who confronted and filmed the students trespassing was kicked and beaten in the head. The students even choked him, temporarily cutting off his airway, all the while yelling homophobic slurs and threats at the man.
This isn’t who we are. During our time here, Orono has welcomed us with open arms. Meanwhile, some students throw beer cans in people’s lawns, vandalize signs and in this case, commit hate crimes.
It’s obvious to any level-headed individual that this is disgusting and inexcusable behavior. Students need to acknowledge that there is a deeper rooted issue. Students are disconnected from the Orono community, leading to a culture of disrespect and a strained relationship.
I will say that the serious problem-causing students are in the minority. The average UMaine student cares about our community. However, that doesn’t excuse us from collective accountability. At the end of the day, they were students who committed a terrible crime, and one still even participated in Maine Day, unbothered.
I am torn over the local Orono residents referring to this as a student problem. On one hand, if you replaced “student” with “elderly,” “women,” “immigrant,” etc., then it would be unacceptable. On the other hand, this is a neighborhood that has had to deal with serious consequences of housing students.
If the Wooster neighborhood residents are reading this, I want them to know that the majority of students find this behavior despicable and disgusting. YikYak, a popular social media platform for our students, erupted after the Thursday BDN article. Students were outraged, calling for the criminals to be removed from the university.
Unfortunately, there were a few bad apples- as there always will be- defending the criminals, saying that the BDN story was one-sided, and that the man was creepy for filming them. On YikYak, posts with five ‘downvotes’ are automatically removed. All of those posts were downvoted off the app. UMaine students know right from wrong. We know those students did a terrible thing.
UMaine students, as a whole, are not trashy, partying, homophobes that these four individuals portray us to be. However, neutrality is not enough. Students need to be empathetic, involved members of the Town of Orono.
The Orono Town Council has been trying to improve the town’s relationship with students for years. It’s time for students to buy in. Keep the streets clean and treat Orono with respect. If you live off campus, meet your neighbors, and learn their stories. Just because they aren’t students, doesn’t mean they aren’t part of our community.
