To the ISU community,

I followed with sympathy the events that took place April 8 during Veishea. My community south of Syracuse, N.Y., has been there too, to a lesser extent.

In the past few months, I’ve been watching other cases where students gathered in the thousands, became out of control, caused damage and threw bottles at police: Santa Barbara, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Michigan State, Delaware, Western Washington — the list goes on.

I serve on a commission that has been discussing the unrest and damage connected to our annual Cortaca Jug football game between SUNY Cortland and Ithaca College. We are asking the same questions: what happened, why, what can be done. We’ve looked at social media’s role, relations between students and our city, alcohol sales and how to manage the hundreds of young people who come to our city to raise hell thinking they won’t face consequences.

I think some answers lie with college students themselves. On video of the Veishea riot, I saw students cheering as other students turned over a car — and shooting video of it. Students, what is your fascination with acting badly, causing damage and attacking police, then posting photos and video online so everyone can see?

Our commission has met 10 times and held nine public forums since December. We hope the recommendations we’ll make later this month to the college and the city lead to a safer, calmer Cortaca weekend. But the questions we’re asking — the same ones President Leath’s commission will be asking — go deeper than we can touch.

The answers might lie more with college students themselves.