A severe case of spring fever struck about 300 Towers residents Wednesday night when they gathered in the courtyard, causing what the Department of Public Safety called a “disturbance.”

Christopher Barker, hall director for Wilson Hall, summed up the situation by saying “students were causing a bit of unrest.”

The warm and foggy evening began calmly enough with a few people enjoying the nice weather by playing frisbee in the courtyard.

Barker noted “the yelling of vulgarities between buildings” as one of the main causes of the situation.

Shortly after 9 p.m., residents began yelling at one another between Wilson and Wallace Halls from their dorm rooms. They also interacted by flickering their dorm room lights.

The shouting increased, as more people joined in. A small group of students gathered in the center of the courtyard and began dragging a picnic bench to the middle. DPS officials broke up this group, but the screaming between buildings continued.

About 10 minutes later, another group of students assembled in the courtyard. The size of the crowd gradually increased, as the group taunted and encouraged more students to join them.

Students rallied, chanting phrases such as “Fuck dry Veishea,” “Fuck DPS” and “Fuck Jischke,” and some residents yelled to female students, “Show us your tits!”

Jon Wheeler, hall director for Wallace Hall, said the crowd was too large to be handled by the resident assistants.

“We did not have enough people to stop it,” Wheeler said. “The RAs were getting cussed out, so we pulled them out and let DPS take care of it.”

DPS officers circled the area around Towers in their patrol cars, while they waited for backup to assist them in controlling the situation.

A couple students set off fireworks, which attracted more ralliers as a crowd of onlookers watched the mayhem from a distance.

A few attempts were also made at tearing down the light pole in the center of the courtyard.

“They were trying to knock the light post over there down, but [Resident Assistants] came chasing after them,” said Jenny Stillinger, sophomore in education.

A stereo blasted the theme song from the television show “Cops,” and was followed by an immediate cheer from the crowd.

By about 11 p.m. the crowd had reached its highest number.

“We were playing hockey outside, and we counted at least 10 cop cars, both Ames and DPS,” said Adam Edgington, freshman in journalism and mass communication.

While no one knows for sure the reasons for the “disturbance,” some students offered their ideas about the cause of the situation.

“I think it’s just a bunch of people having fun,” said Chris Raymond, freshman in psychology.

“This is a great night for Towers Residence Association. It was a good time and we all had fun, and we were all sober — almost,” said Mike Merrill, sophomore in accounting.

Other people in the crowd said people were there to protest.

“It’s just good clean fun. We’re expressing our freedom of assembly and freedom of speech,” said Jed Winkelman, freshman in zoology.

Carmen Welu, an undecided freshman, had another theory.

“This is a riot because we have no ‘South Park,’ and because of dry Veishea,” she said.

A different idea was held by Chris Bruno, sophomore in biophysics. “I thought it was a protest for some cause, but I guess it was just a protest of ignorance.”

A DPS officer said DPS officials began receiving complaint calls from hall directors at about 10 p.m., and that officers arrived on the scene shortly thereafter.

“If it weren’t for the quiet hours, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” he said. “When it started turning into criminal activity, that was our biggest concern.”

He added that law enforcement officers were able to get the crowd dispersed safely.

In the midst of all the chaos, Drew Erdmann, freshman in agricultural studies, took the time to make an announcement.

“Thanks everybody for one hell of a birthday party,” he yelled.