OPINION: Bottles and batons in Athens
Photo via Will Shilling/The Post/Ohio University Digital Archives
In the early morning of April 6, 1997, Ohio University students poured out of uptown bars in a confused crowd. Due to the time change, bars closed early, which sparked a heated interaction between police and students, resulting in 47 arrests, according to the Athens News. I first learned about this event when my mom casually mentioned it while reminiscing about Halloween at Ohio U. As someone who avidly reads about the university’s history, I was fascinated that I had never come across it before.
Both my mom and my dad were students at the time and were in the uptown area when the disturbance started. I began by asking my parents where they were when students were forced to leave the bars. My mom doesn’t remember, but my dad recalls being right in the middle of the action at The Pub. She does, however, remember stepping onto the street, where the crowd wasn’t enraged about the early closing, but rather confused.
Instead of people slowly trickling out of the bars before the 2 a.m. close, they were all forced out at once. This caused the streets to be packed with students, many unable to leave.
In the massive crowd, many intoxicated, a few decided to wreak havoc by throwing bottles and lighting trash cans on fire. Soon, the police were called in, which made the crowd even more riled up. The police quickly resorted to using wooden bullets and batons to try to settle the commotion. This only made the situation worse. My parents each remember the police desperately trying to get onlookers off the streets, but the crowd was too thick to make an easy escape.
While it appears everyone would agree it was a riot, the reasons behind it remain uncertain. My parents both recall that the bars closed early, yet reports differ on the exact timing. Some claim it was only a few minutes, while others insist it was up to an hour before typical closing time. Adding to the uncertainty, it is unclear whether Athens was aware of this closure in advance. Business owners maintained nothing had changed from previous years, but there are no records to confirm whether the early closure was the result of a new city ordinance or an existing one.
After the incident, Ohio U was featured on news channels across the country, including CNN, Extra! and the Columbus local station, WBNS, to name a few. The event brought a lot of bad press to a university that already had the reputation of a “party school.”
After the events in April, my parents distinctly remember the police cracking down more on underage drinking, especially during Fest Season. There was a very obvious rift between students and the police force. They remember there being a much larger police presence and not letting a lot slide when students were caught underage drinking.
My parents graduated the following year, but it seems that event served as a turning point for the university’s efforts to shed its party school reputation. Since then, Ohio U has taken significant steps to rebrand itself with a stronger academic focus. In particular, it has worked to promote its image as a picturesque campus nestled in the Appalachian hills, rather than a hub for partying.
Records are sparse these days concerning the riots. At the time, though the internet existed, news articles were not frequently uploaded. In addition to this, the university holds no records in its archive about the events. The only source of information are from local papers which have been saved or have continued to report on it and people who experienced it firsthand.
This article was published in TNP’s Spring 2025 Print edition.